Can You Spot the Misleading Graph?

By Jessica Umoren

As you navigate the world as a Statistician or simply a Consumer, you may be misled by common marketing tactics or misrepresentations by major corporations. It is important to be able to determine which graphics and metrics are represented genuinely and relevant to your goals and perception. 

Can you spot the misleading graph?

Take this short quiz to find out!

1. Is this Graph Misleading or Not?

2. Is this Graph Misleading or Not?

3. Is this Graph Misleading or Not?

4. Is this Graph Misleading or Not?

5. Is This Graph Misleading or Not?

6. Is This Graph Misleading or Not?

Solutions

1. This first graph is misleading because the y-axis starts at 6.970, and not 0.
2. The second graph is misleading because the y-axis starts at 35% and not 0, as well as the graph only shows a small slice of the student population. This graph shows only Engineering and Science students who are already categorized within the Level 8-10 Stress Level groups.
3. This graph is not misleading because the y-axis starts at 0
4. This graph is not misleading because the y-axis starts at 0, and all students, or groups, are represented in the graph equally.
5. This graph is misleading because the logarithmic y-axis is compressed and does not start at 0, making the graph display linear growth instead of exponential growth.
6. The graph is not misleading because neither axis is skewed by logarithmic transformation and the data is represented accurately.

Thank you for taking the quiz and learning more about different ways companies, advertisements and organizations can try to mislead their customers and anyone who doesn’t know much about statistics. It is important to equip yourself with as much knowledge as possible so do not become a victim to predatory marketing tactics to convince you to spend more money or simply think the way they want you to about a particular topic. To learn more important facts about statistics and data check out moorestatisticsconsultingfoundation.org.