A-manual-for-writers-of-research-papers-theses-and-dissertations

that states the claim you want the table or figure to support.8.4 Communicate Data EthicallyYour graphic must be not only clear, accurate, and relevant, but honest. It should not distortits data or their relationships to make a point. For example, the two bar charts in figure 8.10display identical data, yet seem to send different messages. The full scale in the figure on theleft creates a fairly flat slope, which makes the drop in pollution seem small. The verticalscale in the figure on the right, however, begins not at 0 but at 80. When a scale is thattruncated, its drawn-out slope exaggerates small contrasts.Graphs can also mislead by implying false correlations. Someone might claim thatunemployment goes down when union membership goes down, and offer figure 8.11 asevidence. And indeed, union membership and the unemployment rate seem to move togetherso closely that a reader might infer they are causally related. But the scale for the left axis(union membership) differs from the scale for the right axis (the unemployment rate). The twoscales have been deliberately skewed to make the two declines seem parallel. They may berelated, but that distorted image doesn't prove it.Graphs can also mislead when the image encourages readers to misjudge values. The twocharts in figure 8.12 seem to communicate different messages, even though they representwww.itpub.net