1. How to Lie With Data
SUDS Workshop, December 6th, 2016
David Newbury (@workergnome)
How to Lie with Data: David Newbury (@workergnome) 1

2. Who am I?
—Programmer
—Animator
—Data Visualizer
—Teacher
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3. This is not an ethics class.
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4. Two goals for today:
• Learn to Persuade.
• Become Suspicious.
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5. If you want to
lie...
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6. ...there's an
easy way.
Falsify Data.
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7. We can be more
subtle than that.
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8. Department of
Veterans Affairs
Take this data.
Looks about the same?
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9. Department of
Veterans Affairs
Let's compare them directly.
Not very dramatic, is it?
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10. Department of
Veterans Affairs
We can do better than that...
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11. Department of
Veterans Affairs
Or, we could be
really, really
sneaky effective.
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12. What is a graph?
A visual summary of information
for human interpretation.
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13. Graphs are
visual.
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14. Graphs summarize.
288,987 census blocks, 9.562 million people. 1 picture.
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15. Graphs contain
Information.
• Data - facts or statements
• Information - relationships
• Knowledge - usefulness
• Wisdom - real meaning
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16. Graphs are
for humans.
That big white triangle
does not exist.
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17. Graphs are
Interpreted.
Graphs are confusing, but...
People trust you.
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18. How to Lie with Statistics (1954)
[A misleading graph] is vastly more effective,
however, because it contains no adjectives or
adverbs to spoil the illusion of objectivity, there's
nothing anyone can pin on you.
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19. Graphs
appear true.
2000 children each year
suffer spinal injuries.
That's 0.0000003% of children.
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20. Words are
powerful.
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21. Misleading Titles
This is actually showing
college attendance.
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22. Too Blatant?
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23. Loaded Labels
How "substantial" is the drop?
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24. Leading Captions
Is the decrease
permanent or temporary?
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25. Images are
more powerful.
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26. Pictographs
Length vs. Count
Humans compare length...
before counting objects.
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27. Pictographs
Length vs. Area
Making something 3x larger...
makes it appear 9x bigger.
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28. Perspective
3D looks like the future...
but it distorts ratios.
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29. Maps and Area
We assign importance to size...
even if the size is irrelevant.
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30. A momentary
pause.
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31. Choosy
Choosers
Choose
Carefully.
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32. Anchoring Comparisons
What will you compare
your selection to?
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33. Exes vs. Wyes
Comparing two things...
implies they are related.
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34. Axis as Allies
One line is total cost...
The other earnings per year.
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35. Pick your Points
Change is really dramatic...
if you pick the points.
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36. Insufficient Resolution
Even if you don't cheat...
You can hide by sampling.
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37. Choosing
your sample.
The beginning and the end...
Are what people will notice.
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38. Watching
out for axis
manipulation.
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39. Starting from Zero
Things begin at zero...
so you can see change.
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40. Choosing a Zero
Choosing what counts as zero
can be just as important.
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41. Stretching the Truth
Same data...
But one appears more volatile.
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42. Math
is hard.How to Lie with Data: David Newbury (@workergnome) 42

43. Relative Sizes
1 + 1
equals: 2 4!
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44. Giving Less than 100%
13 + 13 + 19 + 14
equals: 59 100%!
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45. Everything Always Up.
Adding things to each other...
Always makes them larger.
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46. There are
others ways
to cheat.
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47. Breaking Norms
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48. Hiding Expert Information
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49. Conclusions
Go Here.
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50. Your job is to direct attention.
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51. Good visualizations have a point.
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52. There's a fine line between
storytelling and lying.
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53. My favorite example
3 versions of the same chart...
totally different stories.
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54. How To Not Lie:
1). The visuals should match the numbers.
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55. How To Not Lie:
2). Labels should be honest and accurate.
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56. How To Not Lie:
3). Full context should be provided.
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57. How To Not Lie:
4). Expert information should be conveyed.
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58. Thank you.
Source: http://xkcd.com/688/
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