Topic X Using Visuals

5
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Explain how to use visuals effectively; 2. Incorporate visuals into text; and 3. Use result and contrast structures appropriately.

INTRODUCTION

Visuals such as tables, drawings, photographs, graphs and charts are an essential and integral part of science and technical studies. When used appropriately, visuals allow information to be presented more clearly, precisely and effectively than text alone.

5.1
(a) (b) (c)

WHY USE VISUALS?

Visuals come in handy when: Words alone are insufficient to describe a concept or an object; It is necessary to highlight an important point, especially in summary; and There is a need to help readers understand and interpret information more accurately.

We will consider each of these points in turn.

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ACTIVITY 5.1
In groups of four, discuss the reasons for using visual aids.

5.1.1

Describing

Visuals allow an audience to see what a writer or speaker is explaining. For a person primarily involved in reading or listening to a set of instructions, visuals can be very helpful in enhancing understanding. Visuals can portray the procedure as a whole or just highlight particular aspects of the procedure.

5.1.2

Highlighting Important Points

Often, you need visuals to bring out an important point or to summarise data. For instance, the following pie chart summarises the budget of a school and highlights immediately the fact that the bulk of the budget goes to Special Programmes, as shown in Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1: Pie chart showing the budget of a school

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5.1.3

Interpreting Information Accurately

Visuals help by allowing the reader to form a quick impression of the relative size of a particular slice of the cake. This allows the reader to interpret the data much more quickly. For example, read the following paragraph:

The texture of loamy sand soil has a pH of 5.65 and organic matter capacity of 4.03 megs. The texture of sandy clay loam soil has a pH of 6.1% and organic matter capacity of 4.03 megs. The texture of sandy loam soil has a pH of 5.63% and organic matter capacity of 4.08 megs. The texture of loam soil has a pH of 5.6% and organic matter capacity of 3.7 megs.
You will find that it is difficult to scan the paragraph quickly since the organisation of the paragraph does not help the reader to accurately understand and compare the information. In contrast, the following table presents the information in a more organised way, enabling the reader to compare and interpret the data much more quickly. Even though both the paragraph and the table present the same information, it is easier to interpret the information in table form, as shown in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1: Types of Soil Types of Soil Loamy sand soil texture Sandy clay loam soil texture Sandy loam soil texture Loam soil texture pH (%) 5.65 6.1 5.63 5.6 Organic Matter Capacity (megs) 4.03 4.03 4.08 3.7

However, tables emphasise discrete rather than continuous data and make it very difficult to show trends or directions in the data. Thus, for maximum visual impact, tables should probably be the last choice as a visual and used only when it is important to provide a great deal of information with precision in a very small space. Other types of visuals commonly found in scientific and technical texts are graphs, flow charts, exploded views, maps, photographs and representative drawings (sometimes to scale).

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All these visuals have different advantages in presenting information but also share a common characteristic providing information, usually details, that are tedious to read in the form of solid text, or difficult to describe via words alone. Understanding that each visual has its advantage and purpose makes it easier to select the right one for use within documents, as illustrated in Table 5.2.
Table 5.2: Types of Visuals Table Pie chart Graph Usually gives numerical details. Useful for comparison. Best illustrates the various percentages that make up a whole. Useful for comparison. Provides numerical details but is less precise because it is designed to show relationships quickly. Useful for showing trends over time. Provides similar information as tables and graphs. Also shows the stages of a process or procedure. Visual physical description as they show the spatial relationships of parts of an object or a device. More realistic than drawing. Useful when readers need an exact representation. Covers a wide range of information from blown-up fine detail, such as textures to great sweeps of land.

Flow chart Exploded view and representative drawings Photograph

However, without some kind of text explanation, there is hardly any visual that can provide information with the same clarity and precision as well-written scientific and technical texts do. Now, try the following exercise to check your understanding of what you have learnt so far.

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ACTIVITY 5.2
1. Read the passage below and sketch the image created in your mind:

The digestive system is a series of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus. Inside this tube is a lining called mucosa. In the mouth, stomach and small intestine, the mucosa contains tiny glands that produce juices to help digest food. There are also two solid digestive organs, the liver and the pancreas, which produce juices that reach the intestine through small tubes. In addition, parts of other organ systems (for instance, nerves and blood) play a major role in the digestive system.
After you have tried sketching the image, look at the drawing presented in the Answers section. Compare your sketch to the drawing. If you are like most readers, chances are your sketch captures only some of the features of the digestive system but not all. Formal drawing, on the other hand, presents a lot of information about sizes, shapes, details and arrangements which are not presented in words. 2. Identify and collect examples of four different types of visuals from books, magazines and brochures. For each type of visual, describe the function.

5.2

INCORPORATING VISUALS IN TEXT

Visuals may make reading and understanding of information in a text easier. But a visual cannot substitute a text; instead, it complements the text.

5.2.1

Placement and Labelling in Writing

Visuals must be conveniently placed and clearly labelled. A hard-to-find visual that lacks a proper title and identification of its major parts is of little use to readers.

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(a)

Placement A visual can appear immediately after it is mentioned, or as an appendix or attachment. If you decide to place the visual in the text, then it should be inserted immediately after it has been mentioned, or as near to the text as possible, preferably on the same page. This will make it easier for the reader to refer to the visual and understand it in its full context. However, if the table or figure is too big to fit onto the page immediately after it is mentioned, then it can be placed on a separate page. In cases when you feel that incorporating the visual into the text takes away from the ease of reading, place the graphic as an appendix (in a long piece of writing) or as an attachment (in a short piece of writing). The general guideline is to insert visuals as appendixes or attachments if: (i) (ii) They are too big and bulky to be included in discussion; They may show information that a reader needs to refer to, throughout the entire piece of writing; or

(iii) They present information not immediately relevant for the reader but is important later. (b) Labelling Most visuals should be identified with a title and number. The different parts of the graphic should also be appropriately labelled. These two types of labelling will help readers to quickly relate and make use of the information presented in the visual in their discussion. Several considerations are important in labelling visuals and these are shown in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3: Guide in Labelling Visuals Clearly stated title Visuals should have clear titles. Sometimes, the title identifies the type of visual as well as its content.

Example:
Figure 3: Interview evaluation sheet Number Visuals are numbered consecutively throughout the text. Usually, tables and figures are numbered separately.

Examples:
Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Figure 3, Table 2

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Correctly placed title

According to most style manuals, tables should have their numbers and titles at the top. On the other hand, figures should have their identification at the bottom. Besides the title and number, a visual should also have its parts clearly labelled. On a graph, the vertical and horizontal axes should be named. On a diagram, the parts should also be named.

Parts identified

5.2.2

Talking about Visuals

Once you have decided to use a visual, you must integrate or tie the visual to the text so that it makes sense to readers. The easiest way to integrate a visual with the text is to explain its main points and any special implication that a reader should note. Visuals that accompany written or oral presentations must be properly introduced and discussed. (a) Introduction The introduction is usually a general statement explaining what the visual shows. You can introduce the visual by giving it a number, for example, by referring it as Figure 1, Table 2, etc. In an oral presentation, however, you need not give the visual a number as you can simply point to the table or figure. Here are some examples of introductions: x x x x x

This graph shows that oil production has increased As you can see, oil production has increased As shown in Figure 2.1, oil production has increased Figure 2.1 shows that oil production has increased When you compare the production of petrol and diesel, you can see that petrol is more popular among the people in Malacca.

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ACTIVITY 5.3
Look at the bar chart below. Write four different sentences to introduce the bar chart.

(b)

Discussion The visual must be discussed soon after it is introduced. Language Use pointers such as the following to refer to the visual in the textual explanation:

(c)

See Figure 2, As illustrated in the following diagram, or Table 1 indicates the pertinent factors.
Remember to use the correct terminology. Tables are referred to as tables while all other visuals are referred to as figures. Examples are as follows:

As the graph in Figure 4 indicates Note the ranking position of motorcycles as depicted in Figure 8. Study the amounts of salary increase shown in Table 3.

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(d)

Purpose of description You must be clear about the purpose of your description. Know what you have to describe or explain, and why you are doing it; then, keep to the point. Look at the different ways of describing a personal device assistant (PDA) suggested below. (i) As an instructional aid x x x x (ii) Written description; Parts named and functions shown; Diagram of parts; and Limited maintenance advice.

As a specification x x x Dimensions; Details of working parts; and Operation and maintenance.

(iii) In a trade journal x x x x Description of main features; Emphasis on advantages over other models; Test information; and Comments upon suitability.

(iv) In an advertisement x x (e) Outline of main features; and Emphasis of features that have selling appeal.

Order of description There are no hard and fast rules for the order of description of a visual. However, it would be systematic if we structure the description in a certain way. For an exploded view or object, here are some possible ways: (i) From left to right, following conventional type movement. Example: Describing the general appearance of a machine with detailed reference.

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(ii)

From general to the detailed, or the reverse. Example: Describing the general appearance of a machine before explaining details, fittings and accessories.

(iii) In the order in which components are assembled. Example: Describing machinery for manuals. (iv) By division into functional parts. Example: Describing an internal combustion engine in ignition systems -fuel; cooling; lubrication; mechanical. Now that you understand why it is important, and how to, describe visuals, try the following exercise to test your understanding.

ACTIVITY 5.4
Read the following passage. Can you identify the purpose and order of the description?

XYZ PDA On display from DotMY was the XYZ PDA, the latest in their line of pen/touch-based PDAs. The XYZ PDA is different from its predecessors because it sports an antenna for wireless Internet and information access. Through Palm Net wireless service, users can connect to the Internet, conduct e-commerce and send and receive instant messages. This service is now available in the New York area and will soon become available in other regions of the US. National availability will occur by the end of 2010, in 260 major metropolitan areas. Many information services will be available, such as news, sports, traffic, entertainment, finance and travel.

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5.3
5.3.1

THE RIGHT WORDS AND STRUCTURES

Result Pattern

Often when we use visuals to illustrate a point, we talk about results. There are some common structures for expressing results as shown in Table 5.4, Table 5.5 and Table 5.6. Structure 1
Table 5.4: Example of Structure Expressing Result a corrosive acid is liable to be produced. the crystal boundaries of the metals are broken down. the valve closes some of the low-pressure nozzles.

Therefore Consequently As a result Hence so that with the result that

special precautions have to be taken. the metals disintegrate. the speed drops.

Structure 2
Table 5.5: Example of Structure Expressing Result As a result of In consequence of Consequent upon condensation, a partial vacuum was produced. the development of the jet engine, much greater speeds can be attained. increase in traffic density, underpasses and fly-overs were built. Table 5.6: Example of Structure Expressing Result Superheating the steam

results in leads to

increased efficiency.

There is also another common structure for expressing result. These are the so that pattern and so as to pattern. Study the following examples: (a) (b) The problem is so complex that it can only be solved by computers. Malaysia has so much palm oil that it can export large quantities.

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(c) (d)

The population is increasing so rapidly as to cause a food shortage. The country has so little rubber as to make it necessary to import large quantities.

Before you continue, Do the following exercise to enhance your understanding.

ACTIVITY 5.5
Complete these statements with the so as to or so that structures. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The problem presents many difficulties no satisfactory solution has yet been found. The friction losses are . much reduced .. become negligible. The molecular agitation becomes . violent the molecules break away from each other. The temperatures in the turbine are .. high special nickel alloys must be used. The load on the turbine may be great . it stops the blades from turning.

5.3.2

Contrast Pattern

There is another useful structure that is commonly used to show contrast or opposition between two facts when talking about visuals. Look at Table 5.7.
Table 5.7: Structures Showing Contrast Opposition between Two Facts (a) Mercury has a very regular coefficient of expansion While

while whilst whereas

mercury has a very regular coefficient of expansion,

water has a variable coefficient of expansion.

(b)

Whilst Whereas

water has a variable coefficient of expansion.

(i)

Example:

The contrast can be emphasised by adding on the one hand. While on the one hand a hot engine can run on a weak mixture, a cold engine requires a richer mixture.

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(ii)

On the other hand is often used alone after a full-stop. Example: A hot engine will run on a weak mixture. On the other hand, a cold engine requires a richer mixture. In contrast to + Noun In contrast to the rich mixture needed to start a cold engine, a weak mixture is sufficient to keep a warm engine running.

(iii)

Example:

You have come to the end of this topic. It is hoped that you have a good grasp of what has been discussed. To test your understanding, attempt the exercise below. When you have finished, you can proceed to the next topic.

ACTIVITY 5.6
1. Read the following text and draw a tree diagram, or any visual of your choice, to illustrate your understanding.

There are many different types of evidence that we can use to support our ideas when writing a university assignment. The two general types of evidence are personal and published evidence. The latter comprises popular press and academic press. Academic press can come from three sources, namely, primary, secondary and tertiary.
2. Use Structure 1 or Structure 2 of the Result pattern to link these statements: (a) (b) (c) (d) 3. (a) (b) (c) the computer speed is limited; it will soon become obsolete. the bad weather; progress on the bridge was held up. water was sprayed into the steam causing condensation; a partial vacuum was produced. mass production; the goods became cheaper. Insufficient air will prevent complete combustion. Too much air will reduce the temperature of combustion. The traffic density on the road is very high during peak hours. It is very low at midday and during the night. The steam in contact with the steam chest is comparatively dry. The steam in contact with the piston is much wetter.

Use the Contrast pattern to link these statements:

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x x x x x x x

Visuals are an essential and integral part of science and technical studies. Visuals allow the audience to see what the writer or speaker is explaining. Visuals can be very useful in helping us to understand a procedure. Visuals are also needed to bring out an important point or to summarise data. Visuals help in making exact amounts of information easy to see and this allows the reader to interpret the data much more quickly. Understanding that each visual has a purpose makes selecting and using visuals within documents easier and more effective. Without text explanation, there is hardly any visual that can provide information with the same clarity and precision that well-written scientific and technical texts do. Visuals are almost always a complement to the written text and not a substitute for it. Visuals must be convenient and clearly labelled for the reader to use. A hardto-find visual aid that lacks a title and identification of its major parts is useless. The easiest way to integrate a visual with text is to explain its main points and any special implications. Visuals that accompany written or oral presentation must be introduced and discussed. Result and contrast patterns are used when talking about the facts presented in visuals.

x x x

Contrast pattern Flow chart Graph Order of description

Pie chart Result pattern Text Visuals