Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Use Of Metaphor Graphics To Depict Sleep Research Results, Judith A. Floyd

Nursing Faculty Research Publications

Many nurses are not familiar with the highly technical language of research and the types of graphics that researchers use to communicate findings, creating a major barrier to research utilization in nursing. In an effort to find alternative approaches to displaying research results, W.G. Cole introduced "metaphor graphics" a decade ago as a way of graphically representing knowledge. He proposed that data be summarized using visual metaphors - i.e., abstract signs and symbols - to show patterns and convey meaning. Viewing human beings as imperfect processors of information who tend to reason using pattern recognition and mental models, Cole hypothesized …