Use of Visual Displays in Research and Testing: Coding, Interpreting, and Reporting Data

Use of Visual Displays in Research and Testing: Coding, Interpreting, and Reporting Data

Matthew McCrudden
Gregory Schraw, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Chad Buckendahl

Abstract

Georgia Southern University faculty member Antonio P. Gutierrez co-authored “Design Principles for Visual Displays: Past, Present and Future” and “Examining the Type, Frequency, and Interpretative Complexity of Visual Displays Appearing" in the publication Use of Visual Displays in Research and Testing: Coding, Interpreting, and Reporting Data. “Examining the Type, Frequency, and Interpretative Complexity of Visual Displays Appearing” appeared in the Journal of Educational Psychology

Book Summary: Visual displays play a crucial role in knowledge generation and communication. The purpose of the volume is to provide researchers with a framework that helps them use visual displays to organize and interpret data; and to communicate their findings in a comprehensible way within different research (e.g., quantitative, mixed methods) and testing traditions that improves the presentation and understanding of findings. Further, this book includes contributions from leading scholars in testing and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research, and results reporting. The volume’s focal question is: What are the best principles and practices for the use of visual displays in the research and testing process, which broadly includes the analysis, organization, interpretation, and communication of data?

The volume is organized into four sections. Section I provides a rationale for this volume; namely, that including visual displays in research and testing can enhance comprehension and processing efficiency. Section II includes addresses theoretical frameworks and universal design principles for visual displays. Section III examines the use of visual displays in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. Section IV focuses on using visual displays to report testing and assessment data.