Explain why a pie chart is inappropriate for the data shown below:
What feature is misleading about the following line graph?
Determine whether the following statements, that describe how this graph might misrepresent the statistics, are true or false:
The wrong graph type was used.
The graph doesn't start at 0.
The scale on the vertical axis is not uniform.
Consider the following graph:
Describe two features of this graph that might cause it to misrepresent the statistics:
A newspaper states: "Oil prices have risen by 33\% over the last two years." The article states that in 2018, the oil prices increased by 10\% and in 2019, the oil price increased by 23\%.
Determine whether the following statements are true or false:
The headline is true and accurate.
We need to know the prices to determine whether this statement is accurate.
An increase of 10\% followed by an increase of 23\% does not give an increase of 33\% overall.
A graph is required for more complete analysis.
In NSW, data collected on assaults occurring in hospitals showed that from 2006 to 2011, the number of assaults increased, from 2011 to 2014, the number of assaults remained constant and in 2015, there was a drop in the number of assaults.
Based on this, a newspaper reported “Assaults in hospitals have risen dramatically from 2006 to 2015”.
Explain why this statement misrepresents the statistics.
The pie chart shows the number of nuclear weapons possessed by each country:
Source: Time Magazine
Considering only the size of the slices (i.e. ignoring the numbers), which country has the largest nuclear stockpile?
Looking only at the numbers listed for each country, which country has the largest nuclear stockpile?
Has the pie chart been drawn accurately?
The figure shows the number of tourists from each country to the United States:
Source: www.tinet.ita.doc.gov
What is wrong with length of the line segments representing each country?
The Australian Labour Party released this graph after Tony Abbot was elected as Prime Minister:
Source: http://www.alp.org.au/womencabinet
Determine whether the following statements, that describe how this graph might misrepresent the statistics, are true or false:
The scale on the vertical axis is not uniform.
There are no European countries included.
It assumes that there are always an equal number of male and female cabinet members to choose from.
It assumes all cabinet sizes are the same.
Consider the following line graph:
Source: Brookings report on American education.
The bottom section of the graph has been cropped. Describe the effect this may have on interpreting the graph.
The labels on the horizontal axis are not evenly spaced. Explain why this may be misleading.
Consider the given column graph:
Why is this a particularly poor example of a graph with broken axes?
Explain why it is not generally good practice to use a vertical scale with a broken axis for column graphs.
Describe a graphical display that would be better suited to this situation.
