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Visualisation: Visual representations of data and information

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In this figure there are 2 line charts. Both charts show how Barclays Bank share prices changed with time but over different time periods. The charts have different axes and scales.

The top chart: The horizontal axis is labelled ‘From Feb 28 2008 to Apr 16 2008’ and is marked in units of date, from a short time before 3 March to shortly after 14 April, at intervals of 1 week. The vertical axis is not labelled and is marked in units of share price, from 390 to 520, at intervals of 20.The divisions on the vertical axis are evenly spaced.

The line is a series of short straight lines joined to form a continuous line. It starts at 500 on 28 February and falls to just under 420 by 10 March. After that a sharp peak rises to 460 mid-week and then falls back to below 400 by 17 March. From then the share price rises steadily with two small peaks to mid-week 31 March after which it gradually drops until 14 April before rising again towards the end of the period.

The bottom chart: The horizontal axis is labelled ‘From Aug 14 2008 to Sep 22 2008’ and is marked in units of date, from a short time before 18 August to 22 September, at intervals of 1 week. The vertical axis is not labelled and is marked in units of share price, from 260 to 460, at intervals of 20. The divisions on the vertical axis are gradually and evenly getting smaller as the share price increases up the vertical axis.

The line is a series of short straight lines joined to form a continuous line. It starts at 350 on 14 August and falls to just under 320 by 21 August. After that it rises steadily to 360 after 1 September and then falls back sharply to below 320 by 7 September. From then, after a sharp rise, the share price rises and falls with a general downwards trend to mid week after 15 September, after which it rises sharply towards the end of the period.

 3.1 Cheating with line charts