47: Charts Can Lie, But Here's How You Remain Vigilant - Featuring Alberto Cairo
Data Viz Today · Alli Torban
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Show Notes
It's no secret that some charts lie. You might be thinking that only a subset of people who maliciously create a chart to serve their interests are guilty of this, but the truth is, there are many ways in which a chart can lie.
You can make a mistake in your design, or use data that's insufficient, or make conclusions that aren't accurate. I'm guilty of this, and guess what… so is Alberto Cairo! He wrote a whole book on How Charts Lie based on his experience creating and reading charts.
In this episode, I finally got to ask Alberto's opinion on some burning questions that I have, like
- how he personally reads charts to assess their quality,
- how he'd structure a graphics team today to make sure they create quality graphics, and
- where he thinks we'll be fighting misinformation in the coming years.
- Most importantly, he explains why we shouldn't throw up our hands and give up on charts even when some mislead us.
Alberto's book How Charts Lie
Follow Alberto on Twitter
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Follow Katherine Mellow on Twitter