VISUALISATIONBy Ruichen Jiang, Rob Garruccio and Samantha Limbrick

WHAT IS A VISUALISATION? A visualisation allows for the presentation of information or data in an

aesthetically pleasing form which is increasingly understandable by viewers and which allows for recognition of patterns or relationships within the data.

RESEARCHED DATA For our visualisation we scanned data collated by the Australian Bureau of

Statistics and decided to create a visualisation which illustrated data regarding the participation of children between the ages of 5 and 14 years in reference to a variety of recreational activities over a two week period during a school term in 2012.

Our visualisation is a presentation of the percentages of both males and females who participated in all recreational activities (skateboarding, rollerblading or scooter; bicycle riding; watching TV, DVDs or videos; other screen-based activities; recreational arts and crafts; reading for pleasure; and, homework or other study) studied by the ABS for 20 hours or more during this two week period.

MAKING THE INVISIBLE… VISIBLE

THE EFFECTS Research into children’s

participation in a variety of recreational activities has been conducted for several years with the oldest downloadable press release dating in 2000. Therefore, there is evidently an interest in and emphasis upon children’s behaviours in this regard.

However, when looking at statistics and tables such as the one beside it can become overwhelming and misunderstood by audiences.

Developing and publishing a visualisation, in comparison to publishing written commentary on the same data, has the potential to allow for both greater coherency of statistical information (in a way which may not be considered so overwhelming) and greater engagement with audiences due to its aesthetic appeal and, due to this, generate greater interest in or discussion around a topic.

Our own visualisation has the potential, additionally, to intervene with a number of publics including: the schooling system, family unit, commercial industry, advertising industry, etc. and the way in which each incorporates, encourages, discourages, etc. participation in specified recreational activities.

For example, the schooling system may want a greater emphasis on homework or study during a two week period than that on TV, DVD, Videos and other screen based activities and may thus incorporate such means into how they get students to complete schoolwork.

Another example may be, the advertising industry recognising the potential to engage children with age specific products through TV or the Internet, etc. and thus potentially increasing consumer interest in these products.

A final example may be, parents wanting there children to participate in recreational activities other than TV, DVD, Videos or other screen based activities and thus developing ways to encourage their children to participate in reading or bicycle riding, etc.

Therefore, a visualisation such as ours could present information which is of concern to certain publics or opportunity for others.

THANK YOU References