EssentialNon-essential or desirable

Food & DrinkTransport

Household goods & serviceRecreation & Culture

Housing billsRestaurants & Hotels

Clothing

Communication

Education

Health

0 3030 4040 60

ClothingHousehold goods and servicesTransport

CommunicationRestaurants & HotelsRecreation & Culture

Alcohol & TobaccoHousing billsFood & Drink

Education

Health

Sample response

The graph illustrates how much money is spent by people in the UK per week in 2004-05. It includes a range of products and services such as transport, housing, food and clothing. The biggest expenditure was transport ($60 per week) and the lowest expenditure was health ($5).

It is interesting to note that people spent considerably more on non-essential items such as transport and recreation (approx. $60 each) than housing bills ($40) and general household goods and services ($30). Even more surprising is the fact that essential items such as clothing, communication, education and health were all at the lower end of peoples weekly expenditure, ranging from $25 on clothing to just $5 on health. As you would expect, food and drink was third on the list, costing an average of $45 per week, but alcohol and tobacco was only a fraction of this at just over $10.

In conclusion, although the essential items such as food, housing and fuel took up a large percentage of the weekly costs. It is interesting to see that there was still a substantial amount available for recreation, transport and going to hotels and restaurants.

Question: How do I select the relevant information only?Answer: Look for general trends. Are the results going up/down or staying the same?

In this example, we can see the number of people using narrowband went down but the number of people using broadband went up. The overall figure remained fairly constant with a slight increase.

Question: How do I compare the information?Answer: Look at how the information relates to each other. Is it the same or different? Look for things which are similar or the same.

In this example, we can see that the two lines cross each other in February 2005, meaning that at this moment there was an equal number of people using narrowband and broadband. After this date, the number of broadband users went higher.

This general overview should be expressed in your introduction.

The graph shows a clear comparison between the proportion of homes which have narrowband internet connection and those with broadband. It reveals a growing rise in the percentage of homes with broadband, to the extent that by February 2005 the figure was equal to the number with narrowband and by July 2005 it was approximately 6% higher.

Question: How do I contrast the information?Answer: Look at how the information is different to each other. Also look at how It has changed throughout the given period. Has it changed a little or a lot?

In this example, the number of narrowband users is clearly in decline (going down) whereas the number of broadband users is clearly rising (going up). The number of overall users is also rising but more gradually.

Between April 2003 and July 2005 there was a slow but steady rise in the over number of homes with internet access, regardless of which type of connection they had. However, the proportion of homes with broadband rose dramatically from 8% to 31% in the same period. In contrast, there was a significant drop in the number of people using narrowband, which fell to its lowest figure in May 2005, at 24%, compared to over a third in April 2003.

Question: What do I write in the conclusion?Answer: You should say something about the significance of the data. What does it tell you about peoples habits? What can be predicted about the future?

In this case, it is quite clear that the trend looks set to continue. In other words, the number of broadband users will probably continue to rise and the number of narrowband users will most likely keep falling.

Despite a marginal increase of 1% which followed, it is expected that the number of homes using narrowband will continue to fall as more and more people switch to broadband, which offers a faster and more reliable internet connection.

Linkers

Not only but alsoSimilar

CorrespondinglySimilar

HoweverContrast

In spite of Contract

Both andSimilar

WhereasContrast

SimilarlySimilar

WhileContrast

AlthoughContrast

AlsoSimilar

a. There was a 1% decrease in the number of both male and female smokers.b. In spite of a general downward trend in the number of smokes since 2000, the percentage of smokers aged 35-49 remained the same at 29%.c. Not only was there a 4% decrease in the number of female smokers between 1974 and 1978 but also again between 1978 and 1982 and identical decrease occurred. d. There was no change in the number of smokers aged 25-34 between 1998 and 2000. Similarly, there was no increase or decrease in the number of smokers aged 50 and above in the same period.e. There has been no significant reduction in the number of adult smoker since 1994, whereas the overall decrease in the 1970s and 1980s was quite dramatic.f. Between 1994 and 1998 there was no change in the number of male adult smokers. In addition, the number of female smokers also remained the same.g. Although, while or whereas there was general decreases in the number of smokers between 2000 and 2004, there was no change in the 35-49 age group.h. There was no decrease in the number of adult smokers between 1994 and 1998. However, in the following 6 years there was a slight drop of 1%.

Connecting words using in report writing

HoweverIntroducing a contrasting statement

FinallyIntroducing a summary

DespiteIntroducing a contrasting statement

FollowingIntroducing a time phrase

OverallIntroducing a summary

DuringIntroducing a time phrase

ButIntroducing a contrasting statement

AfterIntroducing a time phrase

In contrastIntroducing a contrasting statement

For/sinceIntroducing a time phrase

In summaryIntroducing a summary

WhereasIntroducing a contrasting statement

ExceptIntroducing a contrasting statement

NeverthelessIntroducing a contrasting statement

To sum upIntroducing a summary

In conclusionIntroducing a summary

In spite ofIntroducing a contrasting statement

All in allIntroducing a summary

AlthoughIntroducing a contrasting statement

BeforeIntroducing a time phrase

ThroughoutIntroducing a time phrase

On the other handIntroducing a contrasting statement

Words or phrases used to describe statistics

RocketedDescribes Upward Movement

HalvedDescribes Downward Movement

StabilisedDescribes Neither

PlungedDescribes Downward Movement

SoaredDescribes Upward Movement

FluctuatedDescribes Both

DoubledDescribes Upward Movement

FellDescribes Downward Movement

RoseDescribes Upward Movement

DroppedDescribes Downward Movement

PeakedDescribes Upward Movement

DippedDescribes Downward Movement

DivedDescribes Downward Movement

PlummetedDescribes Downward Movement

TripledDescribes Upward Movement

SlumpedDescribes Downward Movement

Remained steadyDescribes Neither

DeclinedDescribes Downward Movement

IncreasedDescribes Upward Movement

Levelled outDescribes Neither

DecreasedDescribes Downward Movement

EscalatedDescribes Upward Movement