How to Lie With Charts

by Jones, Gerald E.

• ISBN13: 9781583487679
• ISBN10: 1583487670
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Iuniverse Inc

Table of Contents

Introduction Truth Is the Best Revenge!	xv
If you know how to lie with charts, you won't be fooled by someone else's presentation, and you will be less likely to accidentally distort the truth yourself. (What you do on purpose is your own responsibility!)
The Numbers Don't Lie or Do They?	1	(18)
All Charts and graphs are forms of data reduction, or summary. A summary gives an overall picture, or general shape, of the underlying detail, or source data. So, a summary can be useful for highlighting a valid trend or can be misleading by obscuring exceptional results that might be significant
Pies Or, When in Doubt, Throw One at Them	19	(24)
Pie charts are overused. Their virtue and their vice is simplicity. Pies show percentages, proportions, or ratios. An open question is percentage of what? Since the what is usually the topic at hand, how much of it you're dealing with is usually important, but the pie chart offers not a clue
Orientation Or, What Goes Up Must Go North	43	(18)
Playing to your audience's biases about up-and-down and left-and-right can either reinforce or detract from your intended message. Maps are examples of a ``Mercator bias,'' by which schoolchildren learn that the North pole is at the ``top'' of the globe. This bias not only appears in maps, but also in photographs, movies, and television
XY Charts Or, The Old Story of Money and Time	61	(22)
One of the most common charting formats is an xy chart that shows fluctuations in some measurement over time. In Western countries, an audience will expect the upward movement to mean an increase in quantity and rightward movement to mean the progress of time. Graphs that do not meet these expectations by plotting quantity against the y axis and time against the x axis can be inherently misleading
Radar Charts Or, Watch Out for That Zen Speed Trap!	83	(10)
Radar charts are particularly popular in Japan, apparently because the symmetry or lack of it among a set of variables can highlight normal and abnormal conditions. Much of the time, however, the symmetry is only in the eye of the beholder
Axes Or, Handy Tools for Dismembering Your Enemies	93	(14)
The impression given by an xy or radar chart can be changed dramatically by manipulating the scales of its axes. You can flatten or exaggerate the spikes in a curve by scaling axis values up or down, or by expanding or contracting the range of axis values. Beware of y axes that don't start at zero, charts with dual-axes that don't start at zero, charts with dual-y axes, and logarithmic scales
Chart Picks and Liars' Tricks Or, Choosing Chart Types and Styles	107	(22)
Different impressions are given by the style of data plotting. Some chart types should be used only for showing specific relationships. If you try to mix several styles for different plots in the same chart, you should know that there are only a few combinations that are effective
Trends Or, A Conservative's Guide to Trendy Thinking	129	(14)
Different impressions can be conveyed by the type of trend line drawn through the same series of data points, such as an average or regression
Tables and Spreadsheets Or, The Socialite's Guide to Setting a Nice Table	143	(24)
Do everything you can to use a graph instead of a table to present results. But if you must, here's how to lay it out for those starving number crunchers. Your problems may be under the sheets: Converting electronic spreadsheets to charts can be easy and fun, but faulty spreadsheet logic will get you every time. So here are my Eight Great Steps to worksheet reliability!
Words for Your Charts Or, Is There Any Truth In Labeling?	167	(34)
Inadvertently leaving off helpful labels is the quickest way to perjure yourself. Be sure to document sources of information as chart notes. Regard your entire speech or report narrative as a long caption for your charts, making sure to illustrate each point
Color Its Uses and Abuses	201	(30)
As in so many other lessons of life, things that are pretty can be especially deceiving. The meanings of specific colors aren't absolute; professional biases and the business situation surrounding a presentation can affect how colors are interpreted
How Not to Get Cheated On	231	(22)
Summarized here are the tell-tale clues that a chart maker is cheating. Watch for these tricks, and you won't be fooled!
Unexpurgated Glossary	253	(12)
Index	265