What this lesson teaches
I can present fieldwork findings with clear maps, graphs, sketches and text.
Syllabus K329, Topic 1.3, Key Question 4. How to present findings?
I can read maps, graphs, photographs and texts, and separate what they show from what they suggest.
Syllabus K329, Topic 1.3, Key Question 4 (part). How to present findings?
Make a guess
You counted how many people walk, take the bus or drive to a park. Which graph should you draw?
- A scatter graph of transport against count.
- A bar graph with gaps between the bars.
- A wind rose of the three types.
- A line graph joining the three counts.
Show the answer
A bar graph with gaps between the bars.
Walking, bus and car are separate categories, not points in a sequence. Bars compare categories, and the gaps show they are not joined.
Use bars to compare categories, lines to show change over time, and pies for parts of one total.
Use a bar graph to compare categories. For the practice counts of walking 12, bus 6 and car 2, draw equal-width bars with gaps between them. Label the categories and use an even scale starting at zero. Add a title and units. Do not join the bars with a line, because walking, bus and car are not points in a sequence.
Use a line graph for change along an ordered scale, such as time. Visitor counts at 09:00, 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 are 20, 35, 30 and 50. Put evenly spaced hours on the horizontal axis and counts on the vertical axis. Plot each point, then join them in time order.
Describe both the overall trend and the exception. Visitors rise from 20 to 50, an increase of 30. But they fall from 35 to 30 between 10:00 and 11:00, so the rise is not steady.
To compare two groups, use separate bars or lines and a clear key. Keep the time intervals and measuring methods the same. Otherwise a difference may come from how the data were collected, not from real change.
A pie chart shows parts of one total. Of 20 travellers, 12 walk (60%), 6 take the bus (30%) and 2 go by car (10%). Each sector angle is count / total x 360 degrees, so the angles are 216, 108 and 36 degrees. One pie chart shows shares at one time; it cannot show growth without earlier data to compare.
- Bar graph
- Compare categories; bars with gaps.
- Line graph
- Show change over time; join points in order.
- Describe
- Overall trend, figures and exceptions.
Step by step
Choose the graph
Bars for categories, lines for time, pies for shares.
Draw it clearly
Title, labels, units, even scale and a key.
Check and describe
Check each point; give the trend and exceptions.
Worked example: Compare the same hours
Suppose a second practice morning has 40 visitors at 09:00 and 45 at 12:00. It starts 20 higher than the first morning but ends 5 lower. So neither morning is busier at every hour.
Watch out for this
A higher final point means the line rose at every step.
A line can rise overall and still fall in places. Check each step.
Check your understanding
Which description fits the values 20, 35, 30, 50 at four hours in a row?
- No clear pattern, because the values go up and then down again.
- A steady rise of 10 every hour, from 20 up to 50.
- An overall rise, with a fall of 5 in the third hour.
Show the answer
An overall rise, with a fall of 5 in the third hour.
Yes. It gives the trend and the exception.