The Visual Display

2 Graphical Integrity
For many people the frrst word that comes to mind when they think
about statistical char* is "lie." No doubt some graphic do distott
the underlying data, making it hard for the viewer to leam the
truth. But data graphics are no different from words in this regard,
for any means ofcommunication can be used to deceive. There
is no reason to believe that graphics are especially vulnerable to
exploitation by lian; in fact, most ofus have pretty good graphical
lie detectors that help us see right through frauds.
Much of twentieth-century thinLing about statistical graphics has
been preoccupied with the quesrion ofhow some amateurish chart
might fool a naive viewer. Other important issues, such as the
use of graphics for serious data analysis, were hrgely ignored.
At the core of the preoccuparion $drh deceptive graphics was the
a$umprion that data gnphics were mainly devices for showing
the obvious to rhe ignorant. It is hard to imagine any doctrine
more likely to stifle inrellectual progres in a field. The assumption
led down two fruidess paths in the graphically barren ye:n
from r93o to r97o: First,
"alive,"
thrt graphics had
"com-
to be
municatively dynamic," overdecorated and cxaggerated (otherwise
all the dullards in the audience would fall rsleep in the face
of rhose boriDg statistics). Second, rhat the main task ofgraphical
analysis was to detect and denounce deception (the duliards could
not protect themselves).
Then, in the lrte r96os, John Tukey made statistical graphics
respccbble, putting an end to the view that graphics were only
for decorating a few numbers. For here was a world-class dara
analyst spinning of half a dozcn new designs and, more importantly,
using them effective]y to e]?lore complex data.1 Not a
word abour deception; no tortured anempts to consEuct more
"graphical
standards" in a hopeless efort to end all distorions.
Instead, graphics were used as instrumen* for reasoning about
quantiredve information. With this good example, graphical work
has come to flourish.
Ofcourse false graphics are still with us. Deception musr always
be confronted and demolished, even iflie detecrion is no lonqer
ar rhe forefront ofresearch. Craphrcal excellence beg'ns wirh;lling
rhe truth ebout the data.
ljohn \v. Tutey rd Martin B. Wilk,
"Dda
Anllylis &d Sbristica: Tcchniqu6
dd Appro.ch6," id Edward R. Tufte,
ed., The Qudtit^tit. Anald' oJ Srict
&otiem Ee.ding, M:s., r9?o), 3?o-
39o; ud]ohr'w. Tukey, "Some
Gr2phic &d S.migmphic Displ.ys."
-l
in
. L. Bnda{t, .d., sldtndut P4?4s ln
Honot oJc.otee w. stud{ot ( m6,