What makes a data point?

As a student, especially in the sciences, I've spent hours reading scientific papers. Each paper is composed of an abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion. One thing I've learned over the years is that figures have the power to provide resolute understanding or utter confusion. Yet each paper that is published and each figure that resides within it is meticulously designed and revised. Regardless of who reads the paper, the audience should be able to gleam a big picture view of the results. That's the beauty of a figure. It's able to convert chaotic datasets full of numbers into elegant and informative visuals.

Figures are meant to be clean, simple, precise, and minimalist. However, readers often forget to acknowledge the hundreds of hours required to produce that single figure. A figure is not just created, it is a culmination of intense work. At the end of this summer when we start analyzing our samples and datasets, it will be satisfying to see all our efforts displayed as a figure. But, it will be just as astonishing that all our work can and will be portrayed in a few figures. Each data point will be the product of a team of people who dedicated hours to acquire that single number.

For example, when determining nitrogen fixation rates we need to travel to Hengill, carry our field gear to the sampling site, set up our incubations, collect and preserve our samples, analyze our samples, process the data, and finally produce a figure. Each of these steps requires lots of time and effort, all for a single data point. Now multiply that work load by adding other components of the core project as well as other side projects and the to do list becomes endless. As we work day in and day out and continue to push on every day it reminds me to applaud the scientists before me and truly appreciate what they have done. 

We are relentless workers. Our work hours are not bound by 9 to 5, 40 hour weeks, but rather by how long our bodies are capable of persisting. Although we may want to yell into the sky in frustration or collapse from exhaustion, we do it because we love it. We strive to explore and explain the unknown and to do that we work tirelessly for that data point.