The guide lists charts, tables, reports, infographics and visualizations. Each shows the same data and each makes a different thing easy to see \u2014 which also means each hides something.
| Form | Good at showing | Hides |
|---|---|---|
| Table | Exact values you can look up | Any pattern across the numbers |
| Line chart | Change over time | How spread out the individual cases are |
| Bar chart | Comparing groups | What happened between the bars |
| Scatter plot | Whether two things move together | Which point is which |
| Infographic | One message, fast, to anyone | Everything the designer left out |
| Map | Where something is concentrated | How many people live there |
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Every number can be true and the picture still wrong. These are the tricks worth being able to name, because naming one is an instant analysis mark.
Five things to check on any chart
- Does the axis start at zero? If not, a small change looks huge.
- What is the time range? Starting the line at a low point makes any rise look dramatic.
- Are the areas honest? Doubling the width AND height of a symbol makes it four times the area for twice the value.
- Is it a count or a rate? A big country has more of everything; per person is usually the fair comparison.
- What is missing? The category that is not on the chart is the one to ask about.
In the exam: Paper 2 gives you data sources. Quoting a figure shows you read it; saying what the chart's shape does to the reader shows you analysed it.
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Some systems exist mainly to make data visible \u2014 and making it visible is what changes who has power over it.
Real-world examples you can name
Global Fishing Watch — launched 2016
Satellite tracking signals from vessels are processed to map fishing activity worldwide and published openly, so protected areas can be policed by anyone with a browser rather than only by patrol boats.
Who it affected: Coastal states without navies, and fleets that relied on not being watched.
Decidim, Barcelona's participation platform — launched 2016, open source
A platform where residents propose, debate and vote on city policy, with proposals traceable from submission to decision. Its code is open, so other cities run their own instances.
Who it affected: Residents who would not attend an evening meeting but will use a phone.
The concept doing work here: In Global Fishing Watch (global, launched 2016) nothing new was collected. The signals already existed. Turning them into a public map moved power from fleets to anyone with a browser.
How this is tested — you have to read a visual accurately, then say what it makes easy to see and what it leaves out. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part a: identify ways data can be represented
- Part b: explain why one form suits a described purpose
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q1: describe what a chart or infographic shows
- Q2: analyse how a source uses its visual
The trap: describing the shape of the line: “It goes up then down” is not analysis. Say by how much, over what period, and what the chart's design is doing to the reader.
Identify two ways in which data can be represented.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Explain one reason why a bar chart with an axis that does not start at zero can mislead a reader.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.