Presenting Data
Visually
Maps for geographic and spatial information.
If your skripsi or thesis contains important geographical information, you
should include maps tailored to your needs. Spatial dimensions are crucial to
many topics: war, nationalism, immigration, urban studies, environmental
changes, and more. If you are studying one of these topics, look for good maps
to download or scan. When you find one during your research, make a special
note of it so you can use it later (with proper citation, of course). In most
cases, you don’t need to create your own maps from scratch. Existing maps are
perfectly fine, although you may wish to add a few labels and arrows to
highlight points of special interest.
Verbal tables and figures for arguments
and concise analysis.
Verbal tables contain written information, such as lists of wars and dates,
rather than numbers. They are valuable tools and, in my opinion,should be used
more often in theses, articles, and books. Figures are rather like free-form
tables and are equally useful. The figure with overlapping circles contrasts sharply
with separate boxes for the traditional approach.If you borrow figures like
these from another author, remember that you need to cite them, just as you do
maps, paintings, photographs, architectural drawings, and any other visual
materials. The rule is simple: If you use others’ work, give them credit.
Figures are also useful for presenting causal analysis.
Pictures, posters, and drawings for
illustration of important points.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it will be worth more if you
use another ten words to introduce it.Unless you are studying art, cultural
history, or consumer marketing, your thesis probably doesn’t need pictures.
Never use them for decoration, and think twice before using them to illustrate.
They may distract, not enhance. Follow the usual rule: Use nothing extraneous.
Charts and graphs for numerical data.
If your thesis includes substantial data, you’ll need to think about the best
ways to present it—ways that are accurate, clear to your readers, and well integrated
into your paper. For small data sets, say ten or twelve numbers, tables are
usually the best solution. But for larger data sets, tables have serious
drawbacks. It’s hard for readers to absorb a dense array of numbers, hard to
discern the key features and major trends. You’ll do better using well-designed
charts or graphs. Charts is the more general term, referring to any display of
information, whether it’s a pie chart or an organizational chart. Graphs are
simply charts that display quantitative information on axes, such as the x- and
y-axes on graph paper.
Daftar Pustaka
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