CHARTS AND DESCRIBING A CHARTA. CHARTSA CHART IS A GRAPHICAL REPR...
1.1. Charts and describing a charta. ChartsA chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is representedby symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a piechart". A chart can represent tabular numeric data, functions or some kinds ofqualitative structure and provides different info.The term "chart" as a graphical representation of data has multiple meanings:
A data chart is a type of diagram or graph, that organizes and represents aset of numerical or qualitative data.
Maps that are adorned with extra information for some specific purposeare often known as charts, such as a nautical chart or aeronautical chart.
Other domain specific constructs are sometimes called charts, such asthe chord chart in music notation or a record chart for album popularity.Charts are often used to ease understanding of large quantities of data and therelationships between parts of the data. Charts can usually be read more quicklythan the raw data that they are produced from. They are used in a wide variety offields, and can be created by hand (often on graph paper) or by computer usinga charting application. Certain types of charts are more useful for presenting agiven data set than others. For example, data that presents percentages indifferent groups (such as "satisfied, not satisfied, unsure") are often displayed ina pie chart, but may be more easily understood when presented in ahorizontal bar chart. On the other hand, data that represents numbers that changeover a period of time (such as "annual revenue from 1990 to 2000") might bebest shown as a line chart.b. Describing a chartIn textbooks at upper secondary school, there are bar charts and pie charts so Ionly mention two these types. These types of charts are usually used forcomparison purposes (unlike line charts, which describe changes).When you write about a bar chart it is important to look first at the Chart Title.This tells you what information the chart displays and you can use thisinformation in your description.Then look at the X and Y axes. The titles of these axes sometimes give youinformation you can use in your description. It is important also to look at theUNITS. Bar charts show similarities and differences. When describing these charts youneed to make comparisons. You also need to group together any columns whichhave broad similarities.To write a short description of the chart ask yourself (and answer!) thefollowing questions: