Guideline to Graph Writing

What are Graphs and Charts?

Graphs, charts, and tables are ways of presenting information. Graphs and charts are pictures which show numbers or figures, and tables are just rows and columns of information.

This a table. It shows the population of the world’s top ten cities in 2011.

1	Tokyo	Japan	32,450,000
2	Seoul	South Korea	20,550,000
3	Mexico City	Mexico	20,450,000
4	New York City	USA	19,750,000
5	Mumbai	India	19,200,000
6	Jakarta	Indonesia	18,900,000
7	Sáo Paulo	Brazil	18,850,000
8	Delhi	India	18,680,000
9	Osaka/Kobe	Japan	17,350,000
10	Shanghai	China	16,650,000

From: http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm

Here is the same data (for the top ten cities) in a bar chart. Which is easier to read or understand – the table or the bar chart?

Graphs: Main Idea

One of the most important things to do is get the main idea of the graph.

First, identify the main features of the graph. What is happening? What are the biggest numbers? If it is a time graph, what are the biggest changes? What are the trends? 

In this particular exercise, the trend is defined as the movement of a datum from a point of origin to a specific destination. Each movement is called a trend. The movements can be within the graph or between two or more graphs. Identifying these movements will plan your writing better. 

Use a Pen!

Ideally you need to find one main idea and, if possible, one or two more smaller ideas.

• Don’t have too much information
• Don’t analyze or explain everything in the graph
• Don’t go from left to right, explaining everything. Instead pick the main ideas.
• Use the biggest and next biggest – don’t mention everything in between.
• Don’t mention the small or unimportant stuff
• Pick an idea and find information that supports it

Study the graph. Print it out. Write on it. Circle the important points – beginnings, endings, sudden changes, low points, high points, trends, averages, differences between lines, differences over time. 

Identify the movements that you would like to highlight; the origin and the destination. This will guide and confine you to analyze / synthesize only that movement. 

Sometimes there is just too much information in a graph. You may need to group information. Grouping information means putting two or three similar or related things together.

If there are two graphs, find the common denominators; same year, same products, shared information. Data movements can only be analyzed / synthesized from these graphs if they shared these key features. 

For an example, if the first graph is about 'Food and Beverage Consumption 1990 to 2000' and the second is about 'The sales of Food and Beverage in 2000', synthesizing can only be obtained of information in 'Food and Beverage Consumption of 2000' and 'The sales of Food and Beverage in 2000' because they share the same denominators - the year 2000.

You need to know some special vocabulary for graphs.

In the MUET exam, you have to write between 150 - 200 words, so show how much vocabulary you know. You don’t need to repeat the same words.

Movement (verbs) up:

• Rose
• Went up
• Increased
• Grew
• Shot up
• Surged
• Rocketed
• Soared
• Climbed up
• Boomed

Movement (verbs) down :

• Fell
• Declined
• Dropped
• Decreased
• Sank
• Went down
• Plunged
• Plummeted
• Dipped
• Nose dived
• Slumped
• Reduced

No movement:

• remained steady
• were unchanged
• did not change
• remained constant
• remained stable
• remained steady
• stabilized
• plateaued
• consistent
• maintained the same level

Tops and bottoms:

• reached a peak
• peaked
• reached their highest level
• pinnacle (noun)
• tip
• roofed
• summit (noun)
• fell to a low
• sank to a trough
• reached a bottom

Describing the degree of change:

Adjectives	Adverbs
small
minimal	minimally
slight	slightly
moderate	moderately
marked	markedly
significant	significantly
considerable	considerably
steep	steeply
enormous	enormously
huge
dramatic	dramatically
sharp	sharply

Describing the speed of change

Adjectives	Adverbs
Rapid	Rapidly
Quick	Quickly
Swift	Swiftly
Sudden	Suddenly
Steady	Steadily
Gradual	Gradually
slow	Slowly

A sample writing:

The graph shows the London Underground Stations Passengers. It depicts a fluctuation in the number of people at a London underground station over the course of a day.

The busiest time of the day is in the morning. There is a sharp increase between 06:00 and 08:00, with a difference of 400 people using the station at 8 o’clock. After this, the numbers drop quickly of 200 at 10 o’clock. Between 11 am and 3 pm the number rises, 150 people with a plateau of just under 300 people using the station each hour.

In the afternoon, numbers decline, 200 people  using the station at 4 pm. There is then a rapid rise to a peak of 380 at 6pm. After 7 pm, numbers fall significantly, 450 people with only a slight increase again at 8pm, tailing off after 9 pm of 50 people.

Overall, the graph shows that the station is most crowded in the early morning and early evening periods.

Vocabulary Tips

• Don’t repeat verbs
• Before you start to write, make a list of synonyms (words with the same meaning)
• See how many ways you can rephrase the title of the graph. Use one in the introduction and another in the conclusion with the same meaning
• Be careful with prepositions. They can make a big difference in meaning. For example, “rose by” is very different from “rose to.” Learn your verbs with the preposition that goes with them.

Graphs: The Vocabulary of Numbers

Look at the following table which shows a number in different years (1990-1995) :There are some special words for numbers, fractions and percentages.

1990	1995
1200	1800

You could describe the above table using numbers, fractions orpercentages:

• The number went up by 600, from 1200 to 800. (Number)
• The number went up by half, from 1200 to 1800. (Fraction)
• The figure went up by 50%, from 1200 to 1800. Percentage)
• The figure went up 150%, to 1800. (Percentage)

1992	1994	1996	1998
500	1000	3000	12000

Use “trebled,” “-fold,” and “times:”

• The number doubled between 1992 and 1994.
• The number trebled between 1994 and 1996.
• The figure quadrupled from 1996 to 1998
• There was a twofold increase between 1992 and 1994.
• The figure went up sixfold between 1992 and 1996.
• The figure in 1996 was three times the 1992 figure.
• The figure in 1998 was four times the 1996 figure.

1992	1994	1996	1998
1000	800	400	100

Use Fractions:

• Between 1992 and 1994, the figure fell by one-fifth.
• Between 1994 and 1996, the number dropped by a half.
• The figure in 1998 was one-tenth the 1992 total.