Creating Effective Graphs: Solutions for a Variety of Evaluation Data
New Directions for Evaluation, Number 73
Published on 15. May 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
109 pages
978-0-7879-9821-9 (ISBN)
Description
Graphs are commonly used to present evaluation data. Their popularity for this and other uses stems from their ability to communicate information simply and efficiently. Graphs are powerful tools for evaluators, who must compete for their audience's time. The audience can quickly retrieve information from a graph, without technical training or a particular talent with numbers. Unfortunately, getting a graph to function in this way is sometimes an adventure. Combining data, software, and hardware to make a graph is often a tedious task. This volume is an attempt to share ideas and improve the hit-or-miss nature of graphical production. The graphs in this volume are solutions to problems that arise when communicating evaluation findings. The problems are common and recurring. Sometimes they involve communicationg a known finding that could be contained in a table but would be much more difficult to extract from the table. Sometimes they expose biases in the narrative reporting of the data. Sometimes they reveal implications that would have gone unnoticed and allow new findings to emerge. The graphs can be used for discovery or for presentation; they are sometimes designed for evaluators and other times for evaluation audiences. This is the 73rd issue in the journal series New Directions for Evaluation
Graphs are commonly used to present evaluation data. Their popularity for this and other uses stems from their ability to communicate information simply and efficiently. Graphs are powerful tools for evaluators, who must compete for their audience's time. The audience can quickly retrieve information from a graph, without technical training or a particular talent with numbers. Unfortunately, getting a graph to function in this way is sometimes an adventure. Combining data, software, and hardware to make a graph is often a tedious task. This volume is an attempt to share ideas and improve the hit-or-miss nature of graphical production. The graphs in this volume are solutions to problems that arise when communicating evaluation findings. The problems are common and recurring. Sometimes they involve communicationg a known finding that could be contained in a table but would be much more difficult to extract from the table. Sometimes they expose biases in the narrative reporting of the data. Sometimes they reveal implications that would have gone unnoticed and allow new findings to emerge. The graphs can be used for discovery or for presentation; they are sometimes designed for evaluators and other times for evaluation audiences. This is the 73rd issue in the journal series New Directions for Evaluation
Graphs are commonly used to present evaluation data. Their popularity for this and other uses stems from their ability to communicate information simply and efficiently. Graphs are powerful tools for evaluators, who must compete for their audience's time. The audience can quickly retrieve information from a graph, without technical training or a particular talent with numbers. Unfortunately, getting a graph to function in this way is sometimes an adventure. Combining data, software, and hardware to make a graph is often a tedious task. This volume is an attempt to share ideas and improve the hit-or-miss nature of graphical production. The graphs in this volume are solutions to problems that arise when communicating evaluation findings. The problems are common and recurring. Sometimes they involve communicationg a known finding that could be contained in a table but would be much more difficult to extract from the table. Sometimes they expose biases in the narrative reporting of the data. Sometimes they reveal implications that would have gone unnoticed and allow new findings to emerge. The graphs can be used for discovery or for presentation; they are sometimes designed for evaluators and other times for evaluation audiences. This is the 73rd issue in the journal series New Directions for Evaluation
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
John Wiley & Sons Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 280 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
112 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7879-9821-9 (9780787998219)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
GARY T. HENRY is director of the Applied Research Center and associate professor in the Departments of Public Administration and Political Science in the School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is also the editor-in-chief of the New Directions for Evaluation journal series.
GARY T. HENRY is director of the Applied Research Center and associate professor in the Departments of Public Administration and Political Science in the School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is also the editor-in-chief of the New Directions for Evaluation journal series.
GARY T. HENRY is director of the Applied Research Center and associate professor in the Departments of Public Administration and Political Science in the School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is also the editor-in-chief of the New Directions for Evaluation journal series.