User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
My graph was fairly straight forward and compared the number of red alder present in my study area compared to the soil moisture reading of all quadrants. Soil moisture readings ranged from 0 to 6, with 0 being the least amount of moisture. The trend on my graph shows that as the number of red alder increases, the soil moisture reading increases as well. This graph supports my hypothesis that red alder require higher soil moisture, and is exactly what I had expected.
I did not have any difficulties organizing, aggregating or summarizing my data while creating this graph. After my graph was marked, I realized that I should have put my sample size in my graph description. I also should have averaged the number of red alder for moisture readings that were the same in more than one quadrant. My study had 30 quadrants total along 3 transects, and I only included readings for quadrants that contained red alder for this particular graph. There were 14 quadrants containing red alder, with 14 soil moisture readings, however many had the same readings therefore I had 7 total points on the graph for soil moisture. What I should have done is if two quadrants had the same moisture reading, but a different number of red alder, I would have to average the number of red alder. I also learned that graphs are not supposed to have titles, which will help me with my final report.
