Data Presentation Flashcards
Advantages of using a Triangular Graph
Show patterns of clustering between 3 different variables.
Allow a large amount of data to be shown on one graph that can be easily read.
Reliable way of classifying large amounts of data with 3 components.
Disadvantages of Triangular Graphs
Only work with a limited range of information: must be 3 variables and must be in % form.
Advantages of Box-Plot Graphs
Shows the range of data, upper, lower quartiles and mean.
One box-plot can be compared against another.
Can be used in conjunction with Chi-Squared to identify if there is a significant difference between two or more area’s information.
Good for skewed data
Disadvantages of Box-Plots
Can only show one set of data at a time so can become a time consuming process if you want to show many forms of data.
Advantages of Dispersion Graphs
Allow you to investigate visually the spread of a set of data.
You can identify any clustering that might exist within the data set.
Dispersion graphs of more than one data set can be constructed provided that the scale is the same and you have different colours.
Disadvantages of Dispersion Graph
Does not specifically highlight a mean or descriptively summarise the data
Compound Bar graph - Advantages
Versatile with many uses.
Can show positive and negative values.
Allow one bar to be split so that the individual quantities for each site are displayed.
Compound Bar graph - Disadvantages
Plotting too many bars can make the graph look cluttered and difficult to interpret.
If there is a wide range of data to be displayed the graph can lose impact.
Scatter Graph - Advantages
Patterns and anomalies can be easily identified.
A line of best fit will identify whether there is a positive, negative or no correlation.
Can be used with Spearman’s Rank and Pearson’s Product
Scatter Graph - Disadvantages
A line of best fit can be drawn that suggests a misleading relationship between 2 variables
Kite Diagram - Advantages
Needs a transect to show data along.
Displays the changing characteristics across a study area.
You are most likely to use this when investigating vegetation succession but it can also be used to show river developments.
It is concerned with the way plant species dominate in a given area as environmental conditions change.
Cross-Sections - Advantages
Visual representation - allows you to draw a particular section of a river/footpath to scale.
Depth can be exaggerated to help highlight features that can be compared to other cross-sections
Cross-Sections - Disadvantages
Can look unnatural
If you don’t collect enough depths then it will be inaccurate.
Profiles - Advantages
A long profile can be used to show the gradient down a slope.
A profile across a seral succession can show the individual stages and how their heights compare to one another.
Profiles - Disadvantages
Profile can transform a wiggly line into a straight one which would be a misrepresentation.
Logarithmic Graphs - Advantages
The scale increases along a series of cycles (rather than a linear set of equal intervals), they increase by multiples of 10.
Useful when there is a large range of data on display.
Useful for showing the rate of change in the data (a steep line means a fast rate of change, a gently sloping line means a slow rate of change).
Logarithmic Graphs - Disadvantages
Easy to make mistakes when plotting points.
0 cannot be plotted on a logarithmic graph.
Negative and positive values cannot be shown on the same logarithmic scale.
Proportional Circles - Advantages
The circles are proportional to the values they display - visual.
They are used for comparing one data set to another.
Proportional Circles - Disadvantages
Can get untidy if you chose the wrong scale and circles start to overlap one another, making it hard to interpret data.
Radial Graphs - Advantages
Bar graph in 360 degrees so also shows direction.
Polar graph can be used to display changing activity over different time periods or the values received at each site for an EQI.
Radial Graphs - Disadvantages
Only useful with a limited type of data.
Too many lines and it can get jumbled and confusing to interpret.
