11. Changes can also be described in more detail by modifying a verb with an adverb. Using a verb from box a and an adverb from box b make sentences describing the changes represented on the graph.
A. increase decrease decline fall rise drop |
B. dramatically sharply gradually slightly rapidly moderately slowly steadily |
1 2000-2004 sales increased steadily/slowly
2 2004-2005 _________________________
3 2005-2006 _________________________
4 2006-2008 _________________________
5 2008-2009 _________________________
12. Read the following summary of the Magic Music Downloads. The expressions in bold refer to time and amount. Underline the expression that you think is correct according to the graph.
The number of music downloads rose steadily from just under/well under 500,000 in 2000 to 1 million in 2004. By 2005 the number had doubled/trebled to exactly/approximately 2 million. 2006 showed a moderate fall in the number of downloads to nearly/over 1.5 million. Over the next year sales fluctuated before rocketing to 3 million this year. We still do not believe that the number of downloads has peaked and predict that the number will increase significantly/slightly over the next 3 to 4 years to well over 10 million.
Write a brief summary of your own graph using the language you have covered in this lesson.
14. Extension. (If you have time in this lesson or for the beginning of the next lesson)
Collect all the students’ graphs and stick these up around the room. While you are doing this – get students to exchange summaries so they all have a different summary to look at. They then have to read the summary and find the graph on the wall they think it refers to. You could make this a competition to see who can spot their graph first. If there is time – repeat the activity.
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Up close and personal: Survey results
The Gallup Organization states its survey results in a universal, statistically correct format. Using a specific example from a recent survey it conducted, you can see the language it uses to report its results:
“These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,002 adults, aged 18 years and older, conducted June 9–11, 2006. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.”
The first sentence of the quote refers to how the Gallup Organization collected the data, as well as the size of the sample. As you can guess, precision is related to the sample size, as seen in the section “Calculating precision.”
The second sentence of the quote refers to the precision measurement: How much did Gallup expect these sample results to vary? The fact that Gallup is 95 percent confident means that if this process were repeated a large number of times, in 5 percent of the cases the results would be wrong, just by chance. This inconsistency occurs if the sample selected for the analysis doesn’t represent the population — not due to biased reasons, but due to chance alone.
One-Minute Summary
To choose an appropriate table or chart type, your starting point is always to determine whether your data are categorical or numerical.