Comments on: The drama of a simple graphic http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2007/08/the-drama-of-a-simple-graphic/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-drama-of-a-simple-graphic Let's save the world from boring elearning Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:04:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Cathy Moore http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2007/08/the-drama-of-a-simple-graphic/comment-page-1/#comment-133 Cathy Moore Sat, 08 Sep 2007 13:35:21 +0000 http://blog.cathy-moore.com/?p=24#comment-133 Good point. Clearly, the newspaper opted to tell a story at a glance rather than represent the finer nuances. If the data bins were smaller, the graphic would be more accurate, but there would be more colors, making it harder to whack people with the info. A simple solution would have been to add a rollover that revealed the actual rate of obesity for each state. Another way to do it might have been to throw out the colors and change each state's size to represent its rate of obesity, with the accurate size still shown inside the bloated state. But apparently the point of the graphic is to compare states with each other and not with their former selves. Good point. Clearly, the newspaper opted to tell a story at a glance rather than represent the finer nuances. If the data bins were smaller, the graphic would be more accurate, but there would be more colors, making it harder to whack people with the info. A simple solution would have been to add a rollover that revealed the actual rate of obesity for each state.

Another way to do it might have been to throw out the colors and change each state’s size to represent its rate of obesity, with the accurate size still shown inside the bloated state. But apparently the point of the graphic is to compare states with each other and not with their former selves.

]]> By: Matt Whyndham http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2007/08/the-drama-of-a-simple-graphic/comment-page-1/#comment-126 Matt Whyndham Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:27:35 +0000 http://blog.cathy-moore.com/?p=24#comment-126 Nice graphic, but the 5% bins distort the story a bit. in 2001, AL could have been 24.99 % obese, but the colour choice implies a qualitative difference from it's neighbour. The drama is overwrought, in typical newspaper style. See Tufte for the antidote. Nice graphic, but the 5% bins distort the story a bit. in 2001, AL could have been 24.99 % obese, but the colour choice implies a qualitative difference from it’s neighbour. The drama is overwrought, in typical newspaper style. See Tufte for the antidote.

]]>