The bad thing about graphs is they can be interpreted in several different manners, all depending on who is looking at them and at what time in that individual’s life. Looking on the USA Today website made me see that, time and time again. It is a fact that I have always known; graphs and tables can be skewed to fit any perspective. But seeing such a wide variety of graphs and looking at them through the eyes of purposely wanting to see the various facts really brought the point home.The graph I chose to analyze on the USA Today website is labeled “College students Taking Online Classes.” Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to copy the graph onto my blog. It did not have a save to computer option, and the graphs were all on a kind of slide show. This is the link to USA Today Snapshots, the graph I chose was under the news section, 8 out of 20.
The claims I have laid are as followed. I am not sure if I have approached this the right way, but I will give it a stab.
Claim #1: Despite the advances in computer technology over the past five years, only 10% more college-goers chose online classes than in 2002.
Claim #2: In today’s rapidly changing world, about 20% of college-goers choose online classes verse the traditional campus college due to the requirements of jobs and families.
Claim #3: The percentage of attending online college classes verse the traditional campus college classes is going up year by year. In 2002 only 9.7% of students attending college took online classes; now the number is up to 19.8% in 2006. This number can only be expected to grow, as is proven by the approximate 3% increase yearly.
1 comment:
HaHa Nichole, I had the same issues with my graph. It wouldn't let you copy or save or anything! Grr. Good job coming up with claims for your graph. Good graph to pick by the way since we are in an internet class!!!!
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