Question

We see data displayed in graphs and charts on a regular basis. Because we live in a world dominated by visual information, it is not surprising that writers, advertisers, and journalists use data visualisations such as charts, graphs, and other graphics to help readers understand complex information more easily. However, it is not uncommon for published graphs to be designed to be eye-catching, shocking, or fun to look at, rather than informative and understandable.

You can find a plethora of questionable graphs and charts on Kaiser Fung’s Junk Charts blog. Fung is an expert on data analytics and visualisations, and has authored several books on the topic. As inspiration for your small group discussion post, search through the Junk Charts archives to explore some of the ways data visualisation can become misleading.

Discuss your evaluation of any published graph or chart you find particularly interesting, effective, misleading, or difficult to understand. In your discussion, focus on answering some of the following questions:

• Does the graph represent the data accurately?
• Does the graph meet best-practice criteria?
• Does the graph speak to the target audience?
• Is the graph in any way misleading, intentionally or unintentionally?

Post the graph or chart you have chosen to share with your small group as a screenshot, image, or as a link to the website from which you found it, along with an evaluation of the graph or chart.

Answer 1

I will be talking about the graph in this link: https://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2019/07/its-hot-even-in-alaska.html

The graph is also attached here:

The data is represented accurately as I don't see any issue with it.

There is one issue with it which is also mentioned in the link: The chart violates one of the rules of making column charts - the vertical axis is truncated at 53F, thus the heights or areas of the columns shouldn't be compared. This violation was recently nominated by two dataviz bloggers when asked about "bad charts".