Data Commentary

Data commentaries are exercises in positioning yourself. There are, as a result, both
dangers and opportunities. One danger is to repeat in words what the data has
expressed in nonverbal form-in
Source
Percentag
other words, to offer description
e
rather than commentary. An
Disks from home
43%
opposite danger is to read too
Electronic bulletin board
7%
much into the data and draw
Sales demonstration disk
6%
unjustified or even rhetorical
Repair or service disk
6%
conclusions. The right way of the
Company, client or consultant disk
4%
matter is to find the strength of
Shrink-wrapped application
3%
claim for the data, the general
Other download
2%
statement for which the data is
Disk from school
1%
likely to represent.
Local area network supervisor disk
1%
Purposely planted
Came with PC
Undetermined
1999 IEEE

1%
1%
29%

Example: Table 1. Means of PC

Virus
Infection
in
U.S
Businesses

Data commentary:
A computer virus is a program that is specifically and maliciously designed to attack
a computer system, destroying data. As businesses have become increasingly
become dependent on computer systems, concern over the potential
destructiveness and the safety of data security have also grown. The given table
illustrates the commonly known modes of virus infection facing U.S businesses. As
can be clearly seen in the table, the source of the virus infection with disks from
home is by far the most significant with the percentage of 43%. Nevertheless,
most horrifying is the source of nearly 30% of virus cannot be determined. While it
is possible to run antiviral software on diskettes brought from home, businesses can
still be vulnerable to major data loss, especially from unidentifiable sources.
Note: Underdetermined sources constitute 29% of the total. In the above
commentary, this is expressed as nearly 30%. What do you think about this and
these alternatives?
a. Over one-fourth of viruses
b. 29% of viruses
c. As much as 29% of all viruses

Question: The data commentary chooses only the most notable details
(percentages greater than 10%). Why? Do you think this is enough? If not, what
would be a suitable additional sentence?