Question

Communication Ethics : Using a spreadsheet app, create a bar chart or line chart using data you find online or in a business publication. Alter the horizontal and vertical scales in several ways to produce different displays of the original data. How do the alterations distort the information? How might a reader detect whether a chart’s scale has been altered?

Answer 1

Age	Income average
20	50000
21	65000
25	70000
30	75000
35	80000
40	90000
45	100000

Interpretation:

Determining the scale of graph is very key to present a clear and meaningful/easy to understand graph report.

Foir this activitry, we have taken data which represent the Income average based on Investor Age.

Here want to represent ,how income average varies based on Investor age. So the resprestation of Income and its trend need to be portrayed through this graph report. As a thumb rule in bar chart/Line chart (i.e commonly known as trend charts), the value which are having higher digits should be plot on Y Axis and lower digits in "X " axis for better representation/analysis of Trend.

Refer the first chart pasted,where age is plotted on X and income at y axis . As you see, the chart provides a clear represntation of the trend of average incoem varies based on investor age.

In next screen shot, i have changed the axis values and generated chart. The chart doesn't provide clear representation, since the maximum vlaue of Y axis is 45 and maximum value on X axis is 1 lakhs. Chart cannot be prepared with such low values on X axis against Y axis and trend cannot be formed. .  . However excel automatic function has provided a parllel chart by keeping age and income on same axis. It will be hard for user to interpert to understand the trend.