The following is an example of an analysis of one piece of visual data taken from week 3 of the course. Read this alongside the assignment structure document on the VLE.
You are expected to write three paragraphs, with approximately the following word limits:
Paragraph 1: Description of key features, 100-125 words.
Paragraph 2: Explanation of key features. 150-200 words.
Paragraph 3: Comment on reliability of source. 50-75 words.
Projected distribution of the world’s population from 2020 to 2100 by age group
Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
The component bar chart illustrates the current and anticipated global share of the population, from 2020 to 2100, within three different age categories. The first notable feature is a decline in the proportion of people aged 59 years and younger. Those aged 15-59 years are predicted to decrease by almost 7% over the course of the rest of the 21st century. Similarly, the proportion of people aged 0-14 years are projected to fall by 8%. The second key feature that can be identified is the increase in the older population over the same period. Unlike the bars for the 0-14 and 15-59 age categories, the bar representing the 60 years and over group shows an increase of nearly 15% between the period 2020 and 2100.
The above key features can be explained in a number of ways. According to the World Health Organisation (2023), the expected increase in the proportion of the population aged over 60 is caused by the twin factors of a decline in the fertility rate as well as an increase in life expectancy. Generally speaking, as the world has become richer over the last fifty years, more and more people have moved out of extreme poverty which has led to a decrease in the size of the average family alongside better health prospects (Rosling, 2018). The phenomenon of an increasing proportion of the population aged over 60 years old is often referred to as the ‘ageing population’ (WHO, 2023). This is expected to have a potentially detrimental economic impact as government expenditure rises to pay for the increased healthcare costs, yet tax revenue falls due to the fact that there are less people of working age (Pettinger, 2017).
The source of the data is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), part of the United Nations. Its stated aim is to eliminate poverty (UNDP, 2023). As an international agency, the UNDP may be considered a ‘top’ ranking source, according to the ‘Hierarchy of Sources’. Its research is conducted by experts in their field with an intended audience of policy makers, academics and the general public.
References
Pettinger, T., 2017. Cracking Economics. London: Octopus Publishing Group.
Rosling, H., 2018. Factfulness. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
United Nations Development Programme, 2023. UNDP. [online]. Available at: https://www.undp.org/ [Accessed 25 January 2023].
World Health Organization, 2023. Ageing: Global population. [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/population-ageing [Accessed 3 January 2023].