Avoiding Misleading Graphics: Effective Data Visualization Techniques

Abstract

Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Misrepresenting Data using Misleading Graphics Graphics are important tools of data presentation since they make it easier to read and interpret important information from data. A chart can be a useful tool when used correctly and accurately to capture the interest of the reader and offer valuable information at sight. However, partisan charts can be misleading and serve the interest of the individual or organization presenting facts and data to consumers. The wrong choice of charts, misleading designs, and overloading graphics with information is misleading to the audience and difficult to interpret. Graph 4.5 on job security is misleading and intentionally misrepresents data that could have been more effectively shown on a segmented bar graph. I found graph 4.5 to be the most misleading since it has numerous flaws that either mislead the consumer of data or make it harder to read. The graphic is a 3-D pie chart that shows where participants believe the most secure jobs are, either in large corporations, medium-sized companies, self-employment, small businesses, and none/don’t know. First, the use of a pie-chart is a worse choice of graphic compared to a simple table depicting the data or a bar chart. Pie-charts are harder to read since people find it difficult to compare the size of the slices and easily observe important facts from the chart. Additionally, the use of 3-D effects on the chart distorts the graphic and presents challenges for data consumers comparing the sizes of the slices. While there are only five data points, the pie-chart used a large amount of space to present the information. The scale of the slices is misleading since a slice representing 6% is larger than one that represents 8% of the participants. The choice of the chart and its presentation make it hard to collect any information just by looking at the chart. The graphical error was intentional since there were better and easier methods of presenting the data that would have required less...