About Our Project
I. Choosing Our Sources
As concern over youth culture and public safety amplifies over numerous tragic cases of school shootings over the past three decades, our group decided to set our research on the publicly emotional topic of school-related shootings in the United States. We relied on the WashingtonPost School Shooting Database, compiled by editor for investigation database Steven Rich in July, 2023. This dataset consists of 50 entries of information regarding school-related shootings occurring in 1997-2023. These variables revolve around the statuses of both perpetrators and victims based on individual, community, and social levels. The quantity of entries is sufficient and uncomplicated, offering us a good grasp to the general picture of school shootings across America. Moreover, this database covers school shooting incidents that are nonfatal and those in higher levels of educational systems. Nonetheless, as Michel-Rolph Trouillot points out historiography produced their own silences on marginal groups, we as researchers understand that our database may also have an imbalance between power and silence, in which incidents with less media representation or less fatal aftermaths may be unreported and/or downplayed (Silencing the Past, p. 1-30,) which is why we incorporated sources beyond data.
Other than Steven Rich’s database, we based our project on a list of primary and secondary sources authored by school leaders, educational researchers, school counselors, and psychiatrists. These sources address the roots and solutions for school shootings, and offer an analysis and typology for the different types of shootings. Some sources even go into detail on incidents that appear in the WashingPost School Shooting Database, e.g., Columbine in 1999. These literary sources equips our group with much more insightful and deeper understanding on the underlying factors and correlations behind the use of firearms on school grounds across America. More information regarding our sources can be found in our data critique.
II. Data Processing
The WashingPost School Shooting Database contained a number of significant variables, with few outliers and null values in variables such as shooting motive and gun access. For cleaner and more accurate data, our group used Open Refine to combine related data for the “shooter relationship to the school” variable into simplified categories. The data originally had student, suspended student, former student, and former student (expelled) as the seperate categories. However to make our data visualization’s easier to understand, we combined these variables into one labeled “current or former student”. To create Data Visualizations, our group chose to use Tableau for its broad implementation, ease of use (even for non-dev users,) and capability of handling large volumes of entries. To break down our primary and secondary sources, our group created a timeline of U.S. school shootings and related legislations using TimelineJS—an accessible option for Google-familiar users.
III. Presenting Our Narrative
Our group used website-designing software WordPress due to easy access for each member, allowing all six to work on the same pages anytime. Each teammate was responsible for at least one page; we all collaborated on the narrative. We chose to use a light theme with classical fonts, matching the aesthetic of newspaper articles and school websites, which suits our take on the crisis of education and public safety. In our introduction page, we also uploaded a video from YouTube containing videos and images of school-related shootings and used Clipchamp to modify it, which allows our readers a visual grasp of our topic.
Meet Our Team
Our team of six worked together over Spring Quarter 2024 to complete this digital humanities project, culminating in this WordPress website. All members contributed equally to each part of the project, with roles assigned to allow for one individual to coordinate work and ensure consistent quality of their designated section.
Abdulaziz Al Jaloud
Data Visualization Specialist
Hi, my name is Abdulaziz and I am a 3rd year Computer Science major from Saudi Arabia. As the Lead Data Specialist I cleaned and prepped the data, conducted complex data analysis, and set up the WordPress site on HumSpace. I worked on structuring the narrative, delegating tasks, creating compelling visualizations, and crafting the data critique.
Proud Puangmaha
Data Visualization Specialist
Hi! I’m Proud, a 2nd year double majoring in Business Economics and Cognitive Science from Thailand! As the lead data visualization specialist, my primary role involved verifying and enhancing the quality of each visualization to ensure clarity and effectiveness, mastering various crucial software tools, and guiding my team members in using Excel.
Alexis Pendleton
Project Manager
Hi! I’m Alexis, a 3rd year Psychology major Specializing in Computing from San Diego, CA. As the project manager, I was responsible for scheduling meetings and dividing tasks. Furthermore, I created the interactive map and data visualizations using Tableau and Open Refine. Finally, I helped write our Narrative, Data Critique, and design our website.
Racheal Liu
Editor
Hello, my name is Racheal and I am a 4th-year History major from Palm Springs, CA. As a writer, I am responsible for drafting our introduction page, data critique, and adding final touches to our narratives and data analysis.
Yizhuo Chang
Content Developer
Hi! I am Yizhuo, a third-year Data Theory major student from China. As a content developer, I am in charge of overseeing the authoring of the site’s main narrative and ensuring that the data visualizations and maps integrate neatly with the written content.
Stephanie Su
Web Developer
Hi! My name is Stephanie Su and I am a third-year Data Theory Major student from China. As the web developer, I will strive to create efficient, user-friendly, and visually appealing websites that meet the needs of clients and users alike.
Acknowledgments
Our group would like to give our thanks to Dr. Ashley Sanders for her helpful guidance on what and how to use various softwares for data processing; our work owes great credit to her Data Cleaning with Breve and OpenRefine and Intermediate Tableau Tutorials. We would also like to our Teaching Assistant Theresa Edwards for aiding us in picking our sources, offering feedback to our visualizations/narratives, and encouraging us to think outside the box.