Scatter plot: is not so scary after all

#20: The one about the Scatter plot

There is a common belief that we should only use graphics that are instantly understood. That’s why we tend to avoid charts such as scatter plots, heatmaps, or waterfalls. We are simply afraid that our readers won’t understand it. And we might be partly right because according to PEW Research Center’s survey only six-in-ten (63%) people were able to correctly interpret the presented scatter plot.

So should we remove them from our portfolio and use only bar charts and line charts instead? I think restraining ourselves just to the simplest charts is the wrong and limiting approach.

We don’t understand graphics automatically — we are taught how to do this. We will learn it, by being exposed to it.

That’s why this week I decided to take a grouped bar chart and prove that changing it to the scatter plot will make the analysis easier.

The original chart is by PEW Research Center and it aims to show the correlation between two aspects of people's main source of news — belonging to the mainstream media and presenting news differently. In each series, only a share of those who agreed with mentioned statements is presented. The key takeaway, which is…