Assignment 4: Visualizing Burtin’s Antibiotic Data
In the post-World War II world, antibiotics were called “wonder drugs,” for they provided quick and easy cures for what had previously been intractable diseases. Data were being gathered to aid in learning which drug worked best for which bacterial infection. Being able to see the structure of drug performance from outcome data was an enormous aid for practitioners and scientists alike. In 1951, William Burtin published a chart showing the performance of the three most popular antibiotics on 16 bacteria.
The data used in his display are shown in the adjacent table (Butin_antibiotic_data.xlsx). The entries of the table are the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), a measure of the effectiveness of the antibiotic. The MIC represents the concentration of antibiotic required to prevent growth in vitro. The covariate “gram staining” describes the reaction of the bacteria to Gram staining. Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet; whereas, Gram-negative bacteria do not react that way.
Burtin’s chart focuses on the efficacy of the antibiotics. It answers the question, "How do the drugs compare?". Create a chart that groups the bacteria by their comparative susceptibility to the drugs. It should answer the question, "How do the bacteria group together?" and highlight what insight it reveals.
Assignment 4: Visualizing Burtin’s Antibiotic Data
In the post-World War II world, antibiotics were called “wonder drugs,” for they provided quick and easy cures for what had previously been intractable diseases. Data were being gathered to aid in learning which drug worked best for which bacterial infection. Being able to see the structure of drug performance from outcome data was an enormous aid for practitioners and scientists alike. In 1951, William Burtin published a chart showing the performance of the three most popular antibiotics on 16 bacteria.
The data used in his display are shown in the adjacent table (Butin_antibiotic_data.xlsx). The entries of the table are the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), a measure of the effectiveness of the antibiotic. The MIC represents the concentration of antibiotic required to prevent growth in vitro. The covariate “gram staining” describes the reaction of the bacteria to Gram staining. Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet; whereas, Gram-negative bacteria do not react that way.
Burtin’s chart focuses on the efficacy of the antibiotics. It answers the question, "How do the drugs compare?". Create a chart that groups the bacteria by their comparative susceptibility to the drugs. It should answer the question, "How do the bacteria group together?" and highlight what insight it reveals.