© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Appendix B: Reading Graphics The Skilled Reader (Updated Edition) by D. J. Henry PowerPoint Presentation by Gretchen Starks-Martin St. Cloud State University, MN

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Basic Guidelines for Reading Graphics Read the title or caption (usually at the top). Note the source (usually at the bottom). Read any footnotes. Read the labels of the columns and rows. (See the examples in Appendix B.)

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Analyzing the Graphic Analyze the graphic’s format. Analyze the unit of measurement. Analyze trends and patterns. Note the examples in Appendix B.

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Three Basic Types of Graphics Tables Graphs Diagrams

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Tables A table is a systematic ordering of facts in rows and columns for easy reference. Its purpose is to classify and compare the given facts. Often the facts are given as numbers or statistics.

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Graphs Graphs show the relationship between two or more sets of ideas. Line graphs, bar graphs, and circle graphs (or pie charts) are the most common.

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Diagrams A diagram is a graphic that explains in detail the relationships between the parts of an idea to the whole idea. Flow charts, pictograms, and drawings are examples.

© 2005 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Practice your skills by taking the review tests in Appendix B.