Basic HTML Version
Q
uantitative
R
easoning &
P
roblem
S
olving
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© 2014 Pacific Crest
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Not labeling effectively
Example
: Problems with Students
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Why?
Effective labeling will help
the reader put the graph into
proper context. Thus, ask the
question: What information
does the reader need in order
to obtain the correct meaning
of the graphic?
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
The Day Students Say They
Are Most Likely to Skip Class
Percentage of Students
Weekdays
As you can see, in this graphic, a title, axis labels and a legend will reduce any
incorrect inferences.
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Misleading the audience
Example
: Showing the growth rate of Sales
4300
4310
4320
4330
4340
4350
4360
4370
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Sales Are Rising Rapidly!
Sales
Year
Why?
Often when you want to show time series significance when there really isn’t any,
truncate the y-axis. The sales essentially have stalled over the years of 2000 to 2005
(less than 0.3% per year), but this graph makes it look like it is still very significant.
An honest graph would have the vertical axis starting at zero.