Wise Wording
Parse information among titles,
subtitles, captions, and
notes.
Hierarchy of detail
Reduce punctuation, reduce
wordiness.
Tradeoffs: brevity vs. ambiguity,
clarity vs.
impenetrable wordiness.
Example short title:
Population Distribution,
2000
Legend title elaborates:
Number of people by county
Explanatory note offers
details:
Recommended title content?
who, where, when, what (numerator
and denominator)
BUT Title may not be practical:
“A map showing the distribution
of the percent of people indicating one or more races including American
Indian and Alaska Native who are under age 18 in 2000 by county in the
United States prepared using Census 2000 Redistricting Data”
Census atlas solution:
Title:
Percent Under Age 18, 2000
One or More Races Including
American Indian and Alaska Native
Legend title:
Percent of people indicating
one or more races including American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) who
are under age 18 by county
Example
map
other
notes on example map
Alternative titling; move
more detail to notes:
Native American Children,
2000
Legend title:
Percent of Native American
population who are under age 18 by county
Explanatory Note:
The Native American population
mapped includes both American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) groups. This
population includes people indicating their race as AIAN alone and
those indicating AIAN in combination with other races.
Describing mapped calculations:
Correct but wordy, better
wording for legend:
Percent of people indicating
Hispanic or Latino origin who are under age 18 by county
Ambiguous:
Percent Hispanic under 18
by county
Could be misinterpreted
as
percent of total population
or
percent of total under 18
Confusing:
Under 18 Hispanic percent
by county
(might mean percent of under
18 population who are Hispanic)
Shorter...I think this
one is OK:
Percent Hispanic who are
under 18 county
Line logic
Line breaks and line spacing
important for clarity
Confusing title breaks:
Energy Consumption Increase
and Population
Change by State, 1990 to
2000
Better line breaks:
Energy Consumption Increase
and
Population Change
by State, 1990 to 2000
Confusing line breaks
and spacing:
Another example of confusing
spacing
(seen previously with good
spacing):
