Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Visual Display



What are visual displays of information?
§  Graphic presentations of information
§  Providing a quick overview of the material in a form that is easy to understand
§  Currently called” infographics”
§  Required analysis
§  Suggesting the significance and implications of the information presented
§  Increasingly popular

What questions do u ask yourself when you study a visual display of information?
§  What is the topic of this display of information
§  What is the sorce of the data? Is this sorce credible
§  What is the “story” that these data are telling me? What is the question these data re answering?
§  What are the relationships of the “chunks” of data to each other?
§  What is the significance and what are the implications of this data?

Examples
¡  Chart (pie and line)
¡  Table
¡  Lists
¡  Maps
¡  Timelines
¡  Diagrams

Pie chart
¡  Shows parts to the whole
¡  Best used with data from a single source
¡  Pattern of Organization: Categories/Classification
¡  Question answered: What part of the whole does this represent?

Line chart
¡  Shows patterns of data over time; shows increase or decrease
¡  Can be used with data from multiple sources
¡  Pattern of Organization: Comparison/Contrast
¡  Question answered: What are the trends over time?

Table
¡  Shows multiple data sources for easy comparison
¡  Pattern of Organization: Comparison/Contrast or Cause and Effect
¡  Question answered: How does one data point contrast/compare with another?
¡  OR What caused this?

Map
¡  Shows relationships in space/geography
¡  Pattern of Organization: Cause and Effect
¡  Question answered: Where is this in relation to other items?

Lists
¡  Shows steps in a process or categories of data
¡  Pattern of organization: process, examples
¡  Questions answered: What are these?

Time line
¡  Shows sequence of events over time
¡  Pattern of Organization: Chronological
¡  Question answered: When did this event happen in relation to that event?


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