Caissie Linda T, Goggin Claire, Best Lisa A
Department of Gerontology,St. Thomas University.
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice,St. Thomas University.
Can J Aging. 2017 Dec;36(4):536-548. doi: 10.1017/S0714980817000447. Epub 2017 Sep 26.
Visual inscriptions (e.g., graphs, illustrations) are a defining feature of scientific discovery to aid in data analysis, interpretation, and communication (e.g., Latour, 1990; Lynch, 1985). Our purpose was to examine how visual inscriptions are used to present data in gerontology journals. We compared 357 articles sampled from 24 peer-reviewed gerontology journals published between 1995 and 2009. Approximately 11 per cent of page space was dedicated to data presentation with more page space occupied by tables (9.13%) than graphs (2.32%). Graph use in gerontology was lower than in psychology (6.6% of page space) and higher than in criminology and criminal justice (1.7% of page space). Following Latour (1990), we argue that visualisations provide an understandable summary of complex data by effectively presenting multifaceted results. When inscriptions are used in dissemination, researchers become less reliant on complex statistical jargon and can communicate easily with a diverse audience (researchers, health care practitioners, clients).
视觉铭文（如图表、插图）是科学发现的一个决定性特征，有助于数据分析、解释和交流（如拉图尔，1990年；林奇，1985年）。我们的目的是研究视觉铭文在老年医学期刊中是如何用于呈现数据的。我们比较了从1995年至2009年出版的24种同行评审老年医学期刊中抽取的357篇文章。大约11%的页面空间用于数据呈现，其中表格占据的页面空间（9.13%）比图表（2.32%）更多。老年医学领域图表的使用比例低于心理学领域（占页面空间的6.6%），高于犯罪学和刑事司法领域（占页面空间的1.7%）。遵循拉图尔（1990年）的观点，我们认为可视化通过有效地呈现多方面的结果，为复杂数据提供了易于理解的总结。当铭文用于传播时，研究人员对复杂统计术语的依赖会降低，并且能够轻松地与不同受众（研究人员、医疗保健从业者、客户）进行交流。
