Points to consider while displaying survey data

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How to Display Your Survey Data After you have run successful survey projects and gathered amazing data altogether, it may be tempting to race through creating graphs and charts. Sometimes, having data to share may get you excited and drive you to visualize data in ways that don’t do justice to the project. You have to slow down as well as make every graph count. Your goal should be graphical excellence once you define as communicating concepts as precisely, clearly, and efficiently as possible while allowing the data reveal the truth. When you are deciding how to present survey results, take note that just like surveys weren’t a test for the respondents, the report charts aren’t a test for the readers.

These following tips will help you keep the graphs true to the survey data. While there will be times that companies and clients want you to manipulate data, majority of the breakdowns in graphical integrity are actually accidental. Mistakes could happen, yet keeping an eye on such practices for your survey results will keep the charts on track. Always Be Clear with Your Data Totals An easy way to be clear about your data is including the number of the total observations on the chart. This simple addition is crucial in understanding the presented data. Including the observations on your charts will allow the readers to reconstruct the data

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from the provided percentages. This also provides indirect measures of the variability one could expect to see within the results. If the number of the observations is small, usually fewer than 15 or 10, use the number counts rather than the percentages. Once you have a small number of survey respondents, it’s good to plot counts compared to the percentage of the counts. Even if it’s possible for readers to calculate counts on her or his own, going to the counts for small numbers will help the chart’s readability through getting rid of extra step. One’s brain can interpret and read small numbers quickly without ambiguity. Never Overload Your Graph or Chart It is crucial that your readers can get information efficiently and quickly from your graph or chart. You do not want them to stare hopelessly at the data just to find their way around. There’s often a tendency to add a lot of items to the graph that don’t add to the message of the data. Oftentimes, non-data items are basically included, which could detract from and mask the real information. It is also important to pick chart types wisely. If 3D graphs are not a possibility, what kinds of data visualization can you use for survey results? You may stick with using pie charts, scatter plots, stacked bar, column charts, and bar charts to show survey data in a clearer manner. Show All Survey Data The truth about survey data set basically extends beyond what you may fit on the single graph or chart, yet you have to strive for you to show all data available. When setting up graphs and charts, see to it that you are considering not only the presentation’s accuracy, but also its visual appeal. You must make smart color choices, pick consistent chart scales and types, and make clear visual hierarchy.

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Just remember that asking the right question to the right person at the right time can only give you the right result. PollDeep, the ultimate online poll creator can help you design and conduct the most relevant poll for your business. With latest features and technology, PollDeep has everything which makes it a strong and comprehensive poll creator. So trust your intuition and conduct an online poll, your business will never be the same again.

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