P3 - Geographical skills

Question 1

What are the advantages of line graphs?

Answer 1

• simple and easy to construct
• can show two sets of data with scales on both vertical axis
• anomalies can be easily identified

Question 2

What are the disadvantages of line graphs?

Answer 2

• too many lines can make it difficult to read data

- awkward scales can disrupt visual effectiveness

Question 3

What type of data is plotted on a simple line graph?

Answer 3

continuous data

Question 4

What is a compound line graph?

Answer 4

• the difference between the points on adjacent lines give the actual values
• the area between each line are usually shaded or coloured and there’s a key

Question 5

What are the different ways of data representation?

Answer 5

simple line graphs
compound line graphs
bar charts
pie chart
pictograms
histograms
divided bar charts
scatter graphs
population pyramids
dispersion graphs
flow lines
proportional symbols
contour lines
desire line
dot map
isoline
choropleth map

Question 6

What are the advantages of a bar chart?

Answer 6

• simple to construct and easy to understand
• can show positive and negative values on the same graph
• can show both quantitative and qualitative data

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of a bar chart?

Answer 7

• complicated is there are uneven class intervals

- too many or too few classes can mask important patterns in the data

Question 8

What are the advantages of a pie chart?

Answer 8

-visually effective to see which class is most dominant

Question 9

what are the disadvantages of a pie chart?

Answer 9

• can be difficult to compare data on several pie charts

- lots of segments of similar size can be difficult to interpret

Question 10

What are the advantages of pictograms?

Answer 10

• give good visual impression

- can be used to show more than one data set

Question 11

What are the disadvantages of pictograms?

Answer 11

• not always suitable for large quantities of data

- difficult to show smaller quantities and may be hard to read if a picture is divided further

Question 12

What are the advantages of histograms?

Answer 12

• simple to construct and easy to understand

- shows the relationship between two pieces of data

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of histograms?

Answer 13

• can only be used to represent continuous data

- really only worthwhile when pared with a chart where the classes are different sizes

Question 14

What are the advantages of a divided bar/compound bar/percentage bar graphs?

Answer 14

• easy to read and interpret as totals are clearly shown

- clearly shows the rise and fall in total values

Question 15

What are the disadvantages of a divided bar/compound bar/percentage bar graphs?

Answer 15

• harder to read the more segments each stacked bar has

- if you want to compare one segment to another it is more difficult as it doesn’t have a common baseline

Question 16

What are the advantages of scatter graphs?

Answer 16

• good technique when you have a lot of data

- easy to spot anomalies

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of scatter graphs?

Answer 17

• can only be used to plot two sets of data
• correlation can emerge even when the relationship is just coincidental
• too much data can be difficult to read

Question 18

What is a population pyramid?

Answer 18

a population pyramid is a graph that allows us to see the gender and age structure of a population

Question 19

What are the advantages of population pyramids?

Answer 19

• can be used to predict short-term and long-term changes in population in the future
• indicates life expectancy
• shows past changes in population

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of population pyramids?

Answer 20

• a snap shot at any given time, but population is constantly changing
• age groupings are often in 5s so can mask important patterns in data

Question 21

What is a dispersion graph?

Answer 21

A graph useful for comparing patterns both within and between data sets

Question 22

What are the advantages of dispersion graphs?

Answer 22

• data range can be easily identified
• data clusters can be easily seen
• anomalies can be easily identified

Question 23

What are the disadvantages of dispersion graphs?

Answer 23

• comparison of data sets can only be done where both have been plotted on the same scale
• does not show relationship as only one variable is plotted

Question 24

What are flow lines?

Answer 24

Flow lines are used to represent the volume of movement from place to place
-useful to show migration trends

Question 25

What are the advantages of flow lines?

Answer 25

- shows the movement of people, goods, transport... - gives a clear sense of direction travelled - can show volume of movement with the width of the lines

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of flow lines?

Answer 26

- in order to achieve a clear image the distance and direction may be distorted - issue when man y lines on the map can merge into one another or overlap

Question 27

What are proportional symbols?

Answer 27

symbols that are drawn in proportion to the variable being represented

Question 28

What are the advantages of proportional symbols?

Answer 28

- useful for illustrating differences between many places - visually appealing - easy to read as each symbol is proportional to its value

Question 29

What are the disadvantages of proportional symbols?

Answer 29

- difficult to calculate actual value - time-consuming to construct - size may obscure a location or mean less accurate positioning on maps

Question 30

What are the advantages of contour lines?

Answer 30

- depict the size and slope of different land forms on a map - easy to determine the elevation of a landscape

Question 31

What are the disadvantages of contour lines?

Answer 31

- fail to show some of the heights due to limitation of height interval - some land forms may not be shown by contour lines such as outcrop rocks and craters

Question 32

What is a desire line map?

Answer 32

a desire line ignores the actual route taken but simply concentrates on the origin, destination and the number on a route (uses straight lines)

Question 33

What are the advantages of a desire line map?

Answer 33

- shows the movement of people, goods, transport... - can show volume and direction of movement - gives locations of origins and destinations

Question 34

What are the disadvantages of a desire line map?

Answer 34

- in order to achieve a clear image, the real distance and direction may be distorted - lots of lines can merge and overlap and so can be hard to read

Question 35

What is a dot map?

Answer 35

A dot map shows the distribution of geographical features such as people, houses or even plants - the dots are all the same size - the number of dots indicates the frequency

Question 36

What are the advantages of a dot map?

Answer 36

- shows density and distribution across a wide area | - visual impact of patterns in spatial data, especially for locations of clusters

Question 37

What are the disadvantages of a dot map?

Answer 37

- clustering can make it impossible to plot and interpret - large numbers of dots can be hard to count and interpret - areas with no dots give a false sense of emptiness

Question 38

What is an isoline map?

Answer 38

Isoline maps join places of equal value and show the distribution of an item over a particular area

Question 39

What are the advantages of isoline maps?

Answer 39

- shows gradual changes in patterns over a large spatial area - uses fixed intervals so changes can be easily identified

Question 40

What are the disadvantages of isoline maps?

Answer 40

- can be variations in the locations of each isoline | - only works if there's plenty of data spread over a study area and the change in data in gradual

Question 41

What are the advantages of choropleth maps?

Answer 41

- clear and visual as a display of patterns over an area, can show clusters or concentrations of data - percentages, ratios and averages can be effectively displayed on choropleth maps

Question 42

What are the disadvantages of choropleth maps?

Answer 42

- no distinction between data within a shaded area | - when graduating shades it can be hard to distinguish between shades