Graphical Presentations

Transect

• Useful for comparing different zones - allows you to visually compare multiple habitats or land sections in one continuous drawing

• Great for fieldwork data collection as provides a structured, systematic method of collecting data at fixed intervals, reducing randomness

• Less time consuming than gathering data for a whole city

• One transect may not be representative of a whole city

Proportional Symbols

• Size of symbols allow comparison without having to obscure other essential information

• Effective for quickly showing differences in quantities across places

• Overlap of symbols cause congestion and hard to see values on map

• Size of the symbols can be big and cover precise location of towns/areas you’re looking for

Chloropleth Map

• Visually effective as you can see large amounts of information and general patterns

• Completed map hides variation in each country and assumes the whole area has the same values

• Boundaries of countries give an artificial division between colours but in reality, change is gradual

• Difficult to distinguish between different shaded colours on map

Flow Line Map

• Used for showing movements of data through a system

• Technique involves drawing lines on a map along routes and shows direction of flow

• Nose of flow points towards the main goal, which then can be easily distinguished

• Data can be categorised into groups

• Width of flow line shows information and can be colour coded

Kite Diagram

• It’s a mirrored line graph so its easy to draw, no new drawing techqniues required

• Time consuming to construct by a hand, and hard to add exact values

• Clear and easy to distinguish between all different categories

• Shows abundance of vegetation along transect and so can see all different types of vegetation

Triangular Graphs

• Useful for comparing 3 components, such as population structure

• Drawing and reading the graph is difficult so its easy to make errors

• Large amounts of data can be shown on a graph at one time

• Easy to identify anomalies in the data

Sphere of Influence

• Clear and visual overview of the size and shape of stuff allows comparison to be made between places

• Area can be calculated if map is drawn to scale

• Although, this would be hard to measure accurately

• Distance between 2 places can be measured using the scale

Dot Map

• Shows spatial patterns effectively e.g clusters, gaps and spatial trends

• Reduces visual clutter, its neat, represent quantities without overcrowding the map

• Time consuming to construct, when large data sets are involved

• Not ideal for exact values or precise location, only general patterns

• Avoids averaging issues like the Chloropleth Map has

Cross Section Map

• Shows vertical changes clearly e.g slope gradients, height differences

• Helps visualise landforms in 3D, makes it easier to understand terrain or relief features

• Only represents one narrow line, may not show variation across wider area

• Time consuming to construct, requires careful contour line reading and accurate plotting

• No information about features off the line, means key landscape elements might be missed

Isoline Map

• Shows gradual changes clearly e.g temperature, rainfall, air pressure

• Good for identifying patterns + gradients, as it shows areas of high/low values and steep/gentle slopes

• Useful for comparing regions as it easily shows spatial variation across wider the whole map

• Needs a lot of data points, too few measurements make map inaccurate or misleading

• Complex to draw, especially when values change rapidly or irregularly

• Hard for beginners to read, subtle line spacing and values can be confusing

• Cannot show sudden changes well, isolines smooth out the data

Bipolar Analysis

• shows variation clearly as comparing multiple categories from a central point

• Quick interpretation, as lengths of lines from the centre show relative values and trends

• Less accurate for exact values, and more useful for general patterns

• Shows relative data but no location specific patterns, so not as informative as other graphs/maps

• Requires careful scaling otherwise differences may appear exaggerated or minimised