Communications for Business Lecture 6: Visual Communication NCC Education - Title Master

Learning Objectives Appreciate the use of visual communication Communicate using discrete data Communicate using continuous data Make appropriate use of charts, graphs and figures

Introduction “A picture paints a thousand words” (Chinese proverb) BUT we have to be sure they are the correct 1000 words! In other words – we have to be sure we are conveying the correct message to the reader …

Interpreting Data Raw data is usually not very informative We need to interpret data – make it meaningful and then communicate it Statistics are used to make data informative

Manipulation of Statistics - 1 Data can be misrepresented Governments “manipulate” data all the time – it is not lying just being careful with the truth BUT – in business honesty is the best policy!

Manipulation of Statistics - 2 Sometimes data is “honestly” misrepresented. This is still not good enough in business You need to learn how to safely draw conclusions from data and present them appropriately

Spreadsheets – 1 Manually constructed spreadsheets have been used in business for hundreds of years They are used to organise and present business data - aiding in management decisions Non-financial and non-numerical data can also be analysed using a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets – 2 Electronic spreadsheets are simply computerised versions of manual systems Electronic spreadsheets provide features which make setting up the spreadsheet much easier in comparison to a manual system

Spreadsheets – 3 Cells – contain numbers, text & formulae Jan Feb Mar Apr Total Sales 1750 1501 1519 1430 6200 Cost of Goods 964 980 932 943 3819 Gross margin 786 521 587 487 2381

Continuous Data – 1 Continuous data is used in many different aspects of business For example, sales figures over a given period of time We can represent this data visually to make it easier to understand

Continuous Data – 2 Graphs are used to represent continuous data Sometimes we look for “trends” We can also use graphs to predict what might happen in the future (extrapolation)

Graphs – 1 A graph has an X-axis (horizontal) and a Y-axis (vertical) Variables are plotted on these axes Sometimes we can compare the same data from more than one source to “tell a story” For example: sales figures from factory A and factory B

Example Graph – 1 Here are some sales figures for our 2 factories … which one is performing better? 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Factory A 197000 195000 168000 172000 190000 185000 Factory B 100200 112500 115000 120000 130000 150000

Example Graph – 2 Seeing which factory is performing best is easier with a visual display of the data, i.e. a graph ……

Frequencies and Histograms – 1 Frequencies (tallies) are useful for recording the number of occurrences of key variables For example – the number of students who enjoy mathematics, or who enjoy physics

Frequencies and Histograms – 2 Tallies can be represented on a histogram - where categories are recorded on the x-axis and the frequency recorded on the y-axis Note histograms can only be used for recording continuous data, i.e. no “gaps”

Example Histogram Source: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.qimacros.com/qiwizard/histogram-example-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.qimacros.com/qiwizard/histogram-examples.html&h=359&w=551&sz=26&tbnid=bBir6xUPNZLmbM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhistogram%2Bexamples&zoom=1&q=histogram+examples&hl=en-GB&usg=__2gqvRL713PsiyY3oj3c94NqFQg0=&sa=X&ei=DW3lTNvDL4K4hAf3kbDgDA&ved=0CCIQ9QEwAQ

Class Activity Work in groups of about 5 What is the primary purpose of a graph? 10 minutes Feedback to the class 5 minutes

Charts – 1 Charts are used to represent one genuine variable and one set of categories (e.g. rainfall in several different cities) Thus charts are used to represent non-continuous (discrete) data Consequently their “bars” cannot be touching

Charts – 2 All charts need: Title x Axis labels y Axis labels x Axis title y Axis title Grid (for clarity) Legend Data represented as bars, or pie slices, or others …

Charts – 3 Here is a bar chart example Note the use of things discussed on the previous slide

Charts – 4 Here is another example … Note the bars are touching for each ‘category’ – but are separate between categories

Pie Charts Sometimes we use a “pie” chart rather than a bar chart to represent data Useful when there are only a small number of values (slices)

Pie Chart Example Here is a pie chart for student “Ali” (data extracted from chart on Slide 16) – showing the percentage marks he scored for each subject

Class Activity Work in groups of about 5 What is the fundamental difference between a bar chart and a histogram? 10 minutes Feedback to the class 5 minutes

Conclusions Visual representation of data can clarify things for the reader Data can be either continuous or discrete Important to choose the correct visual representation to illustrate the data correctly Visual data can be used for looking for trends and can sometimes be extrapolated to attempt to predict what might happen in the future

References Payne & Whittaker “Developing Essential Study Skills”, 2nd Edition, FT Prentice Hall, ISBN: 978-1405840873 Cameron “The Business Students Handbook: Skills for Study and Employment”, 5th Edition, FT Prentice Hall, ISBN: 978-0273730712

Lecture 6 – Visual Communication Any Questions? NCC Education - End Slide Master