Module 5 SkillBuilder: Using Calculated Fields
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Your Task
In this SkillBuilder, you will make use of what you’ve learned about performing calculations in Tableau. You will create new data fields and utilize them in exploratory visualizations to answer questions on a variety of datasets – covering topics from Star Wars Characters to White House Visits!
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Assignment: Using Calculated Fields
General Note: Unlike previous assignments, Sheets for creating visualizations have not been
pre-created or assigned to specific questions. You will need to decide for yourself what the best
way of answering each question is!
1. Using the Star Wars Characters dataset, what is the most common first letter for male
characters with yellow eyes?
2. Using the TransactionData:
a. Create a field called “Tax Due” that calculates the tax due to the government,
assuming a 7.25% tax on the gross sales amount
b. What is the product category with the highest sales tax due in 2017? How much
is the tax due on that category?
c. What is the tax due on all of the women’s products?
For the following questions we’ll be using visitor data logs for The White House in 2016.
3. If you look at the Namefirst, Namemid, and Namelast fields, you’ll see some
inconsistencies whether the names are uppercase, lowercase, or capitalized.
Make these columns consistent by creating three new fields that fully uppercase each
person’s name. (e.g. “sherman” should become “SHERMAN”.) Name the calculated fields
FirstName, MiddleName, and LastName, respectively.
4. Use the three fields you created to create a new calculated field, FullName, that contains
the full name of each visitor.
CAUTION: If a visitor has a NULL middle name, make sure that the result has only one
space between their first name and last name instead of two, e.g. “John Doe” (incorrect)
vs “John Doe” (correct). To do this correctly you will need a logical statement that looks
like the following:
IF ISNULL(field)
THEN result1
ELSE result2
END
TIP: To combine strings in Tableau you can use the plus sign: “John” + ” ” + “Doe” = “John
Doe”
5. Create a calculated field Meeting Duration that calculates how long each visit was in
hours.
a. To do this, you’ll first want to compute the difference between the time of
departure and time of arrival in the TOD (departure) and TOA (arrival) fields. Use
the DATEDIFF function to compute this difference in terms of minutes.
b. Then, divide the result by an appropriate number in order to convert minutes into
hours. Note: The reason we need to do this is because if we computed part a in
terms of hours, Tableau would truncate the results. For example a visitor who
stayed for 0.75 hours would appear as 0 hours instead.
6. Explore various statistics regarding specific people who visited the White House.
a. Who visited the White House most frequently?
b. Who spent the most total time visiting the White House?
7. Now, explore statistics for when people visited in terms of the day of the week. Use the
“Week Day Name” and not the “Week Day” field in your visualization.
a. What day of the week has the most visits?
b. What day of the week has the longest average meeting time?
c. To answer these questions, what makes the most sense: to order values from
largest (or longest) to smallest (or shortest), or to order values by the day of the
week? Why?
Assignment: Using Calculated Fields
General Note: Unlike previous assignments, Sheets for creating visualizations have not been
pre-created or assigned to specific questions. You will need to decide for yourself what the best
way of answering each question is!
1. Using the Star Wars Characters dataset, what is the most common first letter for male
characters with yellow eyes?
2. Using the TransactionData:
a. Create a field called “Tax Due” that calculates the tax due to the government,
assuming a 7.25% tax on the gross sales amount
b. What is the product category with the highest sales tax due in 2017? How much
is the tax due on that category?
c. What is the tax due on all of the women’s products?
For the following questions we’ll be using visitor data logs for The White House in 2016.
3. If you look at the Namefirst, Namemid, and Namelast fields, you’ll see some
inconsistencies whether the names are uppercase, lowercase, or capitalized.
Make these columns consistent by creating three new fields that fully uppercase each
person’s name. (e.g. “sherman” should become “SHERMAN”.) Name the calculated fields
FirstName, MiddleName, and LastName, respectively.
4. Use the three fields you created to create a new calculated field, FullName, that contains
the full name of each visitor.
CAUTION: If a visitor has a NULL middle name, make sure that the result has only one
space between their first name and last name instead of two, e.g. “John Doe” (incorrect)
vs “John Doe” (correct). To do this correctly you will need a logical statement that looks
like the following:
IF ISNULL(field)
THEN result1
ELSE result2
END
TIP: To combine strings in Tableau you can use the plus sign: “John” + ” ” + “Doe” = “John
Doe”
5. Create a calculated field Meeting Duration that calculates how long each visit was in
hours.
a. To do this, you’ll first want to compute the difference between the time of
departure and time of arrival in the TOD (departure) and TOA (arrival) fields. Use
the DATEDIFF function to compute this difference in terms of minutes.
b. Then, divide the result by an appropriate number in order to convert minutes into
hours. Note: The reason we need to do this is because if we computed part a in
terms of hours, Tableau would truncate the results. For example a visitor who
stayed for 0.75 hours would appear as 0 hours instead.
6. Explore various statistics regarding specific people who visited the White House.
a. Who visited the White House most frequently?
b. Who spent the most total time visiting the White House?
7. Now, explore statistics for when people visited in terms of the day of the week. Use the
“Week Day Name” and not the “Week Day” field in your visualization.
a. What day of the week has the most visits?
b. What day of the week has the longest average meeting time?
c. To answer these questions, what makes the most sense: to order values from
largest (or longest) to smallest (or shortest), or to order values by the day of the
week? Why?
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Course Reflection
My journey through this course has been an eye-opening experience. With each new topic
that was discussed in class, I became more aware of the various issues affecting women and
minorities in society. Since the first day I walked into class and with every lecture, reading, and
interaction with fellow students and my instructor, I have become a better-informed individual
about women and gender issues. This course has not only exposed me to social justice issues, but
also made me more confident to speak up whenever injustices happen around me. At the same
time, I have learned how to conduct feminist research and form independent opinions about issues
affecting women and minorities. As I reflect on my learning, I can ascertain that I have gained a
lot in taking this course.
This course has provided me with the foundation of key concepts and themes in gender
studies, that can help when conducting research on women and minorities. It is important to
understand these key concepts and themes in order to make a connection between local and global
issues affecting women. I have also gained indispensable information about feminist research and
how it differs from traditional research from this course. Researchers in this field have to
understand that it is politically motivated in that it aims to eliminate social inequality, and that it
2
is informed by the standpoints and experiences of women. Feminist research is grounded on
epistemological principles such as the importance of raising consciousness, strict adherence to
ethics, an intention to fight social injustice and empower women, and focusing on women and
gender in analyses. It is critically important to validate the experiences of women and decisions
should be based on feminist beliefs and concerns.
This course has been an eye-opener about the different forms of oppression and inequality
such as racism, sexism and homophobia among others. It is evident that inherent perceptions are
usually behind the oppression certain groups in society face. For instance, sexism is the
discrimination of women on the basis of sex and it is still prevalent in many parts of the world.
Also, racism persists to date as seen in how some races and ethnicities continue to be looked down
upon. Nevertheless, I believe that with each generation there is more and more acceptance of
people who were viewed as different. People are now accepting and tolerant of other people’s life
choices and expressions. While I may not be completely informed about all social issues, I can
confidently say that I understand how in-depth all these issues are connected to each other.
Women and gender studies has contributed greatly to my understanding of the social and
cultural world we live in. My view of these issues was narrow but this course has instituted many
key insights. My understanding of social issues has evolved a great deal and I understand that what
I have learned from society may not always be right and that I should be open to new ideas and
concepts. Many of the social problems we face in the world are a result of fundamental faults in
the structure of our communities and also reflect and reinforce inequalities that have been passed
down from generation to generation. It is upon us to change the situation and I am to apply my
improved understanding of these social issues to bring change in my community.