GVCM: Chapter 2: Creating Tables and Graphs

Name: Ariel Starling	Student Number: 11
ISM 4011: Introduction to Information Systems
Graphics and Visual Communication for Managers (GVCM)
Chapter 2: Creating Tables and Graphs
DIRECTIONS: Read the chapter first, then: 1. Answer the questions as indicated below in the space under the question.  Answers may be found in the appropriate chapter of your GVCM textbook. 2. Change your answers to blue so they can be easily distinguished from the questions. 3. Create a new blog post and copy this information into the post. 4. Once it is pasted into your blog, select all the text (CTRL A) and change the font to TREBUCHET. 5. Change the TITLE of the post to: GVCM: Chapter 2: Creating Tables and Graphs
1. How can tables and graphs be useful to readers? Note: Excel uses the term chart for graph.
Graphs and tables create a “picture” for reasoning about analyzing information and they allow readers to process information faster and more efficiently than if expressed in words alone.
2. List four criteria for successful graphics:
1. Is the graph useful? 2. Can a reader understand the graph quickly? 3. Is the graphic designed efficiently? 4. Is the graphic true?
3.  Briefly explain this principle of graphic design: Design for a purpose
Designing for a purpose keeps the designer focused on displaying what they are trying to show and how they are trying to show it. Doing this eliminates extraneous information in the message and orders the data to support the message.
4.  Briefly explain this principle of graphic design: Be explicit
Failing to show important data values or failing to highlight and annotate important parts of data leads to presentations with graphics that are incomplete. This greatly increases the reading difficulty because it increases the graphic’s potential for ambiguity. To avoid this designers should make sure and include all necessary data for graphics to ensure they are valuable to the reader.
5. Briefly explain this principle of graphic design: Maximize data ink; minimize non-data ink
By stripping away all nonessential elements such as rules, grids, lines, and shading, a graphic designer can highlight the shape and significance of the data. By minimizing non-data ink you can immediately streamline your graphic and make the actual data easier to see.
6. Briefly explain this principle of graphic design: Ensure integrity
The principle of ‘Ensure Integrity’ means to ensure that the graph is created with integrity. This means not only ensuring that the information the graph is true, but also that is created in a way that avoids distorting the truth.
7. Define the following table terms:
1. body – the rectangular area containing data values; it is the core of the table. 2. cell – the intersection of a vertical column and horizontal row. 3. footer -  a row that summarizes all the rows in a data table. 4. rules – horizontal or vertical lines that are sometimes used to separate header rows from the body of a table or separate data values within a table. 5. grids – a system of intersecting horizontal and vertical rules.
8. Describe the purpose of each of these types of tables:
1. reference table – meant for reference; they gather up large amounts of data about a particular subject or set of statistics. 2. decision table – designed to help you make a decision or chose an item or a set of items. 3. message table – created to convey a specific message or provide a particular insight into the data; they often extract a subset of data from reference tables to make a particular point.
9. List at least five best practices in designing tables:
1. Title each table 2. Number tables when you have multiple tables 3. Eliminate heavy grid lines 4. Minimize shading 5. Use sentence case
10. Define the following graph types:
1. pie chart: shows the relative size of parts of one item 2. 100% column: compares identical parts of multiple items 3. bar chart: compares multiple items according to a single characteristic 4. column chart: displays changes in one or more items over time with few observations 5. line chart: displays changes in one or more items over time with many observations 6. histogram: displays how groupings fall into a series of progressive ranges 7. scatter plot: displays correlation between two variables with a large data set
11. List at least five best practices in designing graphs:
1. Title your graphs 2. Avoid 3D effects 3. Avoid legends whenever possible 4. Avoid contrasting borders around objects 5. Use annotations