arXiv subjects

Cynthia A. Huang

Publications and source records attributed to Cynthia A. Huang.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Crossmaps: standardizing ex-post data harmonization workflows

Ex-post harmonization, whereby data collected under one classification standard are reclassified and redistributed under another to facilitate joint analysis is often treated as a simple data preparation task, but it is in fact complex imputation. When a value is split across several target categories, the harmonized values rest on assumptions that should be stated, checked, and carried through to downstream analysis. Unfortunately, these assumptions are often hidden in custom data wrangling scripts and seldom systematically checked. The Crossmaps framework separates the specification and implementation of transformation logic into two new data structures based on a new task abstraction for mapping aggregate statistics from one classification to another. The part-to-whole array holds a total together with its distribution across a set of keys, and the crossmap holds the redistribution logic. Combined they define the block-level operation of a crossmap transform, which imputes values reported in a source classification into a target classification. We give equivalent graph, matrix and edge list encodings, each supporting different inspection, validation and extraction tasks, to improve the transparency and reuse of harmonization efforts. We include a demonstration based a published ex-post harmonised industrial-statistics dataset using the `xmap` package.

cs.DB↗

arXiv2025

PRITES: An integrative framework for investigating and assessing web-scraped HTTP-response datasets for research applications

The ability to programmatically retrieve vast quantities of data from online sources has given rise to increasing usage of web-scraped datasets for various purposes across government, industry and academia. Contemporaneously, there has also been growing discussion about the statistical qualities and limitations of collecting from online data sources and analysing web-scraped datasets. However, literature on web-scraping is distributed across computer science, statistical methodology and application domains, with distinct and occasionally conflicting definitions of web-scraping and conceptualisations of web-scraped data quality. This work synthesises technical and statistical concepts, best practices and insights across these relevant disciplines to inform documentation during web-scraping processes, and quality assessment of the resultant web-scraped datasets. We propose an integrated framework to cover multiple processes during the creation of web-scraped datasets including 'Plan', 'Retrieve', 'Investigate', 'Transform', 'Evaluate' and 'Summarise' (PRITES). The framework groups related quality factors which should be monitored during the collection of new web-scraped data, and/or investigated when assessing potential applications of existing web-scraped datasets. We connect each stage to existing discussions of technical and statistical challenges in collecting and analysing web-scraped data. We then apply the framework to describe related work by the co-authors to adapt web-scraped retail prices for alcoholic beverages collected by an industry data partner into analysis-ready datasets for public health policy research. The case study illustrates how the framework supports accurate and comprehensive scientific reporting of studies using web-scraped datasets.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2025

ggtime: A Grammar of Temporal Graphics

Visualizing changes over time is fundamental to learning from the past and anticipating the future. However, temporal semantics can be complicated, and existing visualization tools often struggle to accurately represent these complexities. It is common to use bespoke plot helper functions designed to produce specific graphics, due to the absence of flexible general tools that respect temporal semantics. We address this problem by proposing a grammar of temporal graphics, and an associated software implementation, 'ggtime', that encodes temporal semantics into a declarative grammar for visualizing temporal data. The grammar introduces new composable elements that support visualization across linear, cyclical, quasi-cyclical, and other granularities; standardization of irregular durations; and alignment of time points across different granularities and time zones. It is designed for interoperability with other semantic variables, allowing navigation across the space of visualizations while preserving temporal semantics.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2023

Visualising category recoding and numeric redistributions

This paper proposes graphical representations of data and rationale provenance in workflows that convert both category labels and associated numeric data between distinct but semantically related taxonomies. We motivate the graphical representations with a new task abstraction, the cross-taxonomy transformation, and associated graph-based information structure, the crossmap. The task abstraction supports the separation of category recoding and numeric redistribution decisions from the specifics of data manipulation in ex-post data harmonisation. The crossmap structure is illustrated using an example conversion of numeric statistics from a country-specific taxonomy to an international classification standard. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of using visualisation to audit and communicate cross-taxonomy transformations and present candidate graphical representations.

cs.HC↗