15. Multimodal academic argument in data visualization

Abstract

This chapter investigates the semiotic and rhetorical strategies for realizing argument in data visualizations produced by second-year journalism students. The semiotic strategies include use of colour, typography, graphics, and the rhetorical strategies include establishing credibility and the use of citation. The effect of the underlying basis for comparison of data on the argument is examined, as are the selection and processing of data. The chapter investigates the semiotic encoding of ideational material and the ways relationships are established within the discourse communities constructed in the data visualizations. This way of looking at academic argument has important implications for teaching these text-types in higher education in order to produce critical citizens; both in terms of production and critical analysis.