Extreme One – Minimizing Differences
Extreme Two – Maximizing Differences
Explanation
It is clear from this exercise that it is rather simple to manipulate chart settings in order to make the data appear to fit whatever argument is being made. If I were writing a paper in which I wanted to show that the percent did not change over time, I would use the settings in the first graph, in which I chose an axis minimum far below and a maximum far above the actual data in order to “scrunch” the data into a small space. If I were making the opposite argument, that in fact huge changes occurred over time, I would use the settings from the second graph. Setting an axis minimum and maximum close to the data minimum and maximum spreads out the data and emphasizes differences. The reason this manipulation is so powerful is that, generally, readers are lazy. We expect graphs and charts to demonstrate a point in the quickest way possible, so it is easy to overlook details like how the axes are spaced. The human brain also looks for patterns, order, and continuity, so it is even easier to get away with a misleading graph if the title or an accompanying explanation have already told readers what they should expect to see. What is interesting to me is whether we classify this type of manipulation as lying or simply as making an effective argument.