Fun with charts
How to make a chart fit your story
Data is a great foundation for any argument. And arguments which can be based on fancy charts and statistics are just easier to believe.
But what if the data is not in my favour but I still want to be right?
Can’t I use the same data to convincingly tell the opposite story?
This is where “fun with charts” comes in. Here I want to show a few ways how the news or even “reputable” sources bend reality by putting data in a tailored form.
As you know what to look out for, you will be able to ask more sceptical about the data behind the polished chart.
The chart
Is meant to convey in one glimpse the story the data set can tell us.
Most common forms include line, bar and coloumn charts. The very fancy charts typically come from infographics (which is a first red flag).
Fun with axes
When data is given, the chart can be modified in its meaning by going for the axes.
1) Cut, Scale and Distort
The first example comes from everyone’s favourite news channel — Fox News. From the plethora of misleading charts that can be found from them, I chose the following: It shows nicely that the cost of gas has slowed its extreme rise… not really but it has a few examples how companies try to fool us with bad charts:
- Cut the the y-axis to exaggerate the rise of the price. It seems like the price rose by 200% when it actually went up about 10%.
- Distort the x-axis to get the curve to a shape we would like to see, a small bend with a less steep curve behind it.
- A grey background pattern that enhances the visual of a rising line
And this doesn’t take into account how they actually measure the “national average” gas price…
Fox might not be a news source you frequent, but anyway, be aware that other sources make use of some of these techniques just to prove a point:
2) Same Units, Different Scaling
But moving on from Fox News to a slightly more credible source — at least one that seems to be.
The report of the Fraser Institute (sounds important!) shows the chart below. Clearly, the public sector jobs have been on the rise in recent years and have finally overtaken the number of private sector jobs.
This is a great example of an attempt at distorting the meaning of a chart. If you want to compare the development of two features, both measured in the same units, you can simple introduce a second y-axis with a different scaling.
This way your chart can say anything you want it to.
3) Axis Flip and Other Illusions
My favourite so far is also the one that borders on flat out lying:
The Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement shows us that after the “Stand Your Ground” law, murders using firearms has sharply dropped by at least 50%.
But on second sight you might realize that the y-axis is simply flipped. And what looks like a 50% decline is actually a 30% increase.
Also, be careful as soon as someone presents a 3-dimensional chart, like the one below. Chances are, your subconscious misinterprets the meaning.
It goes on…
Remember, charts alone are just one way we might be tried to be manipulated. In reality, malicious reality benders work from several angles:
- Cheating with the input data set
- Cheating with the output visualization
- Cheating with the data processing
But with a little basic understanding how statistics can be bent, you can ask the right questions and come to your own conclusions.
Daniel Sontag connects the bots: As Industry 4.0 lead and manager for connected products, he does what he loves — tying business to tech, and theory to practice.
Hi, great you enjoyed the article! Feel free to give the applause button a few good clicks or leave a short response below, thanks.
Stay tuned: On The Industry 4.0 Blog and on LinkedIn
