Data Alone Isn’t Ground Truth

I saw a chart the other day that highlighted the importance of bringing skepticism to any data analyses and visualizations we encounter. This post isn’t a dissertation, and it necessarily does not address the topic fully. But I think there are some good points I can make on the topic, and if it sparks a good conversation then I think it’s served a good purpose.

Here’s the chart that started me down this path:

The chart shows what appears to be an inverse relationship between average IQ estimates by college major and the proportion of women in said major’s…