Principles of effective data display

Question 1

What are the 5 key ways to effectively display data?

Answer 1

1. Show the data and produce patterns
2. Represent magnitudes accurately
3. Draw graphs clearly, keep clutter at a minimum
4. Make displays easy to interpret
5. Clearly ID all the axes

Question 2

What are 3 ways to mislead with graphs?

Answer 2

1. Not starting scale at 0
2. Different axis scales between graphs to compare
3. Colours

Question 3

Why wouldn’t we normally display raw data in a paper?

Answer 3

A lot of numbers that don’t mean anything. If it was in a paper it would be in an appendix for reference

Question 4

What are 3 things you can do to effectively communicate results through a table?

Answer 4

1. Compact
2. Few digits as possible
3. Arrange the numbers to facilitate patterns

Question 5

What advantage do graphs have over tables?

Answer 5

Better for showing patterns and outliers

Question 6

What advantage do tables have over graphs?

Answer 6

Better for communicating quantitative detail

Question 7

Should you use a graph or a table?

Answer 7

Best to use both, but complementary and not repeating each other