1. 1 of 7 Data interpretation Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Disclaimer This is an example of a teaching aid to support learning in the classroom. It has been written by and is copyright of Sam Coulson, Assistant Head of Geography at William Farr C of E Comprehensive School, and is a resource she currently uses with her class. She has kindly agreed to share this resource as an example of good practice and in anticipation that other teachers will find this approach interesting and inspiring. AQA accepts no liability for the content of these materials.

2. 2 of 7 Data interpretation Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. This section is where you explain what your data shows in order to reach a conclusion. You will need to look at each piece of data and describe and explain what it shows in relation to your original question. You need to think about the following: Where? What? When? Who? How? and Why? You need to make sure that you analyse every piece of data to describe and explain your results: describe – what the pattern of data is explain – why this pattern of data occurred.

3. 3 of 7 How to analyse your data Your ‘How to…’ booklet has lots of hints and tips to help you, and the mark scheme to check that you do everything. Remember that you must do everything in a level to progress onto the next and access higher marks. Incorporating your key concepts is really important to show what you understand and how your data relates to the key question. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

4. 4 of 7 How to analyse your data Describe each piece of data in turn, this can be through a series of annotations or a written piece, but should be as close to each piece of data presentation as possible. Remember to always relate your analysis to your original question. There are three levels, each one will require more detail than the previous one. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

5. 5 of 7 Levels Level 1 (0-4 marks): –brief description of findings –basic reasons given –limited range of specialist terms –reasonable accuracy with spelling, punctuation and grammar. You will get stuck in this level if you don’t explain what you have found in relation to your original question. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

6. 6 of 7 Levels Level 2 (5-8 marks): –clear description of results –attempts to analyse results by basic numerical data manipulation –valid reasons offered –key concepts correctly incorporated into interpretation of results –a range of specialist terms –considerable accuracy with spelling, punctuation and grammar –provide simple conclusions, which are covered in more detail in the ‘Conclusion’ PowerPoint. To achieve this level you must give or suggest reasons for what you have found and use geographical words. You will get stuck in this level if you don’t use data manipulation (most commonly forgotten element of controlled assessment) – this is where you change your data mathematically to look at it in a different way, such as an average, total, difference or range. It is not enough to simply do it, you must comment on it too. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

7. 7 of 7 Levels Level 3 (9-12 marks): –describes and analyses the results in detail –links between data sets identified –wide range of specialist terms used appropriately –ideas are expressed clearly, logically, fluently and with accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar –provide valid conclusions referenced to evidence, which are covered in more detail in the ‘Conclusion’ PowerPoint. To achieve this level, you must describe and explain each piece of data and look for how they relate to each other. To do this, you should compare and contrast them in relation to your original question and any theory you have used. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.