Misleading Graphs. The Nature of the Problem

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Graphs are usually a representation of data that are given in pictorial forms. As a result, people expect the representation to correspond to the figures that are provided. However, this rarely happens as the graphs often illustrate more misleading information. This usually occurs when the designer of the graphs wants to provide to the audience an impression that graphs are performing better in terms of the data being highlighted.

In some cases, the graphs can even lack numerical sense, leading to misleading the audience. For instance, the first diagram illustrated by Robbins (2012) seems to be demonstrating that Germany had fewer medals in the 2004 Olympics compared to other countries such as France, while the USA had the highest number of awards. However, the graph lacks representation as the diagrams represented by the gold medals do not correspond to the number of awards presented. In other words, there are no clear patterns that the readers can follow and arrive at a meaningful conclusion. Instead, the graphs are offered in a manner that only suits the designers understanding.

The nature of the problem presented in the graphs is a poor representation. The number of the medals illustrated in the chart does not correspond to the number of participants who won the medal. For instance, two medals are used to demonstrate that Germany had 499 medals (Robbins, 2012). This, therefore, means that three medals should represent about 1000 medals. However, in this case, three medals only represent 523 medals won by France (Robbins, 2012).

The poor representation given by the medals makes it challenging to interpret the data because there is no uniformity. The designer seems to be the only person understanding how he or she arrived at the information presented while the reader has no clue. The graph also lucks scale, which the reader can use as a reference point. Therefore, the reader is given the freedom to construct his or her scale, which can mislead the information represented in the graph.

Reference

Robbins, N. (2012). Misleading graphs: Figures not drawn to scale. Forbes. Web.

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