making data meaningful through effective visual presentation

Making data meaningful through effective visual presentation

5th - 9th December 2011, Rome

Slides courtesy of: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division

Who are you talking to?

Tourists

Harvesters

Miners

clear and simple

message

Perception and Symbology – Size/Shape

Perception and Symbology - Colour

Age group Women Men10-14 1.8 4.015-19 13.8 31.520-24 27.0 62.025-29 33.3 92.030-34 36.5 97.835-39 47.5 98.940-44 52.0 98.745-49 62.2 99.250-54 64.1 97.555-59 58.4 97.960-64 42.0 79.465+ 30.6 50.0

Table A. Economic activity rate by age group and sex, Nigeria, 1987 (percentage)

Source: Calculated from International Labour Office, Year Book of Labour Statistics, 1993 (Geneva, 1993), table 1. p.15

Economic activity rate of women peaks about 25 years later than men's

(Nigeria, 1987)

0

20

40

60

80

100

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65+

Age in years

Percentage economically active

Men

Women

Tables, graphs or maps?

Tables Follow a style guide Title, source, headings, footnotes Clear headings Sort data in appropriate order One decimal place Right-justify numbers

Source: Statistics Canada

Final energy consumption by sector - Percentages 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2002 2003 Transport 27.83 27.94 28.26 31.14 36.85 39.54 39.10 Residential 31.15 33.96 30.41 27.66 24.33 23.73 24.01 Industry 31.59 27.25 23.95 22.12 21.45 19.56 18.85 Agriculture n/a n/a 3.53 3.75 3.12 2.92 2.83 Services 9.63 11.76 14.90 15.58 14.49 14.42 15.35 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Share of total energy consumption, by sector Ireland Percent

Transport Residential Industry Services Agriculture1 Total

2003 39.1 24.0 18.8 15.3 2.8 100.0 2002 39.5 23.7 19.5 14.4 2.9 100.0 2000 36.8 24.3 21.4 14.4 3.1 100.0 1995 31.1 27.6 22.1 15.5 3.7 100.0 1990 28.2 30.4 23.9 14.0 3.5 100.0 1985 27.9 33.9 27.2 11.0 n/a 100.0 1980 27.8 31.1 31.5 9.6 n/a 100.0

Source: Department of Public Enterprise, Ireland. 1 Information on energy consumption by the agricultural sector was not collected until 1990.

Graphics for showing differences between women and men Box plots Stacked bar graph

Mean Age at First Marriage in Selected Countries: Circa 1995

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

BurkinaFaso

China Congo Guatemala Indonesia Japan Mexico Paraguay SaudiArabia

Swaziland UnitedStates

Vietnam

Male FemaleAge

Source: United Nations, 1995.

Mean Age at First Marriage in Selected Countries: Circa 1995

15

20

25

30

35

BurkinaFaso

China Congo Guatemala Indonesia Japan Mexico Paraguay SaudiArabia

Swaziland UnitedStates

Vietnam

Male FemaleAge

Source: United Nations, 1995.

Difference in Mean Age at First Marriage Between Men and Women in Selected Countries: Circa 1995

9.6

2.7

5.1

3.03.7 3.4 3.5

4.2 3.9

2.41.9

1.3

BurkinaFaso

China Congo Guatemala Indonesia Japan Mexico Paraguay SaudiArabia

Swaziland UnitedStates

Vietnam

Difference in years

Source: United Nations, 1995.

Men marry later than women

Difference in Mean Age at First Marriage Between Men and Women in Selected Countries: Circa 1995

9.6

5.1

4.2 3.9 3.7 3.5 3.43.0 2.7 2.4

1.91.3

BurkinaFaso

Congo Paraguay SaudiArabia

Indonesia Mexico Japan Guatemala China Swaziland UnitedStates

Vietnam

Difference in years

Source: United Nations, 1995.

Men marry later than women

What you should avoid…

Don’t distract the reader’s attention

My busy chart

10

25

15

0

10

20

30

A B C

Series1 My clearer chart

10

15

25

0

10

20

30

A B C

Adolescent fertility rate, 2006

0

10

20

30

40

Albania Georgia Greece Hungary Romania Serbia

Adolescent fertility rate, 2006

0

10

20

30

40

Greece Albania Hungary Serbia Romania Georgia

Adolescent fertility rate, 2006

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Greece Albania Hungary Serbia Romania Georgia

avoid using 3D graphs

divorced never married

married

widowed

widowed divorced

never married

married

Avoid three-dimensional charts

Economic activity rate of women peaks about 25 years later than men's

(Nigeria, 1987)

0

20

40

60

80

100

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65+

Age in years

Percentage economically active

Men

Women

Maps Title Legend Scale bar Source Footnotes

Source: E.W. Gilbert as cited in Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1997), p24

Summary Visual presentations are tools to communicate Use whatever is best for the audience and message

Tourists

Harvesters

Miners

clear and simple

message