Presentation of data
Marjorie Henry, Contributor

Over the last few weeks, I have been focusing on the school-based assessment (SBA) for geography. By this, you should know that it is a field-study report which must be done by all students sitting the subject at the general proficiency level. So far, I have shared with you on:

• Distinguishing between primary and secondary data
• Utilising techniques for data collection
• Developing a bibliography
• Completing location maps.

In today's lesson, I will share with you on how to present the data for your field study. There are different ways to present your data, utilising:

• Charts
• Graphs
• Pie charts
• Bar graphs
• Line graphs
• Flow charts
• Photographs
• Sketches
• Diagrams
• Tables
• Maps other than the location maps.

At least three different examples are to be included in your study. You will be penalised if you have fewer. You are to develop these based on the information obtained from your field observations; that is, your primary (and not the secondary) data. The chosen data must only be presented once. In other words, do not use different techniques to represent the same data.

All illustrations must be relevant to the study. They are to be accurate, neat, clearly labeled, numbered and titled. My close association with the examination informs me that there is a tendency to overuse photographs and, often, they are not relevant to the study.

Illustrations

My advice is to be more selective in the photographs you take and ultimately include in the study. Just in case you did not know, photographs must also be labeled and well annotated.

Allow me to expand a bit here. You may have chosen to do fishing in an area and you took a photograph of a fishing boat that goes by a particular name. Having included that photograph in the study, you must now go further by labeling the special boat. Please note also that if your study is one on a coastal area, you should draw sketches of features, as seen in that study area.

The illustrations are to be integrated in the study; if not, it would not have been worth the effort to do them in the first place. Do not just place them in the study; refer to them in your discussion. For example, if you did a graph, you could ask yourself - what is it about the graph that I want the examiner to focus on or see? You would, therefore, refer to this as a means of integrating the graph in the study. Simply put, there is no need for a description of the graph. Highlight what is outstanding about it.

A word of caution to you about the illustrations:

• They should not be photocopied. If they are, you will not be awarded any marks for them.
• They should not all be placed on one page, in between or at the end of the written account.

Let me state here that the ideal situation is that the presentation of data and analysis and discussion should not be separated.

With regard to the quality of data, let me restate that this must always be relevant to the aim and should be comprehensive enough to achieve the aim of the study. It must be very accurate.

The discussion continues in the next lesson.

Students participate in class at St Jago High School, in St Catherine, recently. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

Marjorie Henry is an independent contributor.