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How charts lie : getting smarter about visual information / Alberto Cairo.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, N.Y. : W.W. Norton & Company, [2019]Copyright date: ©2019Edition: First editionDescription: xii, 226 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781324001560
  • 1324001569
Other title:
  • Getting smarter about visual information
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue : a world brimming with charts -- How charts work -- Charts that lie by being poorly designed -- Charts that lie by displaying dubious data -- Charts that lie bye displaying insufficient data -- Charts that lie by concealing or confusing uncertainty -- Charts that lie by suggesting misleading patterns.
Summary: "A leading data visualization expert explores the negative -- and positive -- influences that charts have on our perception of truth." -- From Amazon.com summary.Summary: "A leading data visualization expert explores the negative -- and positive -- influences that charts have on our perception of truth. We've all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don't understand what we're looking at? Social media has made charts, infographics, and diagrams ubiquitous -- and easier to share than ever. We associate charts with science and reason; the flashy visuals are both appealing and persuasive. Pie charts, maps, bar and line graphs, and scatter plots (to name a few) can better inform us, revealing patterns and trends hidden behind the numbers we encounter in our lives. In short, good charts make us smarter -- if we know how to read them. However, they can also lead us astray. Charts lie in a variety of ways -- displaying incomplete or inaccurate data, suggesting misleading patterns, and concealing uncertainty -- or are frequently misunderstood, such as the confusing cone of uncertainty maps shown on TV every hurricane season. To make matters worse, many of us are ill-equipped to interpret the visuals that politicians, journalists, advertisers, and even our employers present each day, enabling bad actors to easily manipulate them to promote their own agendas. In How Charts Lie, data visualization expert Alberto Cairo teaches us to not only spot the lies in deceptive visuals, but also to take advantage of good ones to understand complex stories. Public conversations are increasingly propelled by numbers, and to make sense of them we must be able to decode and use visual information. By examining contemporary examples ranging from election-result infographics to global GDP maps and box-office record charts, How Charts Lie demystifies an essential new literacy, one that will make us better equipped to navigate our data-driven world." -- Amazon.com
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 302.226 C136 Available 33111009536505
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

We've all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don't understand what we're looking at? Social media has made charts, infographics, and diagrams ubiquitous--and easier to share than ever. We associate charts with science and reason; the flashy visuals are both appealing and persuasive. Pie charts, maps, bar and line graphs, and scatter plots (to name a few) can better inform us, revealing patterns and trends hidden behind the numbers we encounter in our lives. In short, good charts make us smarter--if we know how to read them.

However, they can also lead us astray. Charts lie in a variety of ways--displaying incomplete or inaccurate data, suggesting misleading patterns, and concealing uncertainty--or are frequently misunderstood, such as the confusing cone of uncertainty maps shown on TV every hurricane season. To make matters worse, many of us are ill-equipped to interpret the visuals that politicians, journalists, advertisers, and even our employers present each day, enabling bad actors to easily manipulate them to promote their own agendas.

In How Charts Lie, data visualization expert Alberto Cairo teaches us to not only spot the lies in deceptive visuals, but also to take advantage of good ones to understand complex stories. Public conversations are increasingly propelled by numbers, and to make sense of them we must be able to decode and use visual information. By examining contemporary examples ranging from election-result infographics to global GDP maps and box-office record charts, How Charts Lie demystifies an essential new literacy, one that will make us better equipped to navigate our data-driven world.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-213) and index.

Prologue : a world brimming with charts -- How charts work -- Charts that lie by being poorly designed -- Charts that lie by displaying dubious data -- Charts that lie bye displaying insufficient data -- Charts that lie by concealing or confusing uncertainty -- Charts that lie by suggesting misleading patterns.

"A leading data visualization expert explores the negative -- and positive -- influences that charts have on our perception of truth." -- From Amazon.com summary.

"A leading data visualization expert explores the negative -- and positive -- influences that charts have on our perception of truth. We've all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don't understand what we're looking at? Social media has made charts, infographics, and diagrams ubiquitous -- and easier to share than ever. We associate charts with science and reason; the flashy visuals are both appealing and persuasive. Pie charts, maps, bar and line graphs, and scatter plots (to name a few) can better inform us, revealing patterns and trends hidden behind the numbers we encounter in our lives. In short, good charts make us smarter -- if we know how to read them. However, they can also lead us astray. Charts lie in a variety of ways -- displaying incomplete or inaccurate data, suggesting misleading patterns, and concealing uncertainty -- or are frequently misunderstood, such as the confusing cone of uncertainty maps shown on TV every hurricane season. To make matters worse, many of us are ill-equipped to interpret the visuals that politicians, journalists, advertisers, and even our employers present each day, enabling bad actors to easily manipulate them to promote their own agendas. In How Charts Lie, data visualization expert Alberto Cairo teaches us to not only spot the lies in deceptive visuals, but also to take advantage of good ones to understand complex stories. Public conversations are increasingly propelled by numbers, and to make sense of them we must be able to decode and use visual information. By examining contemporary examples ranging from election-result infographics to global GDP maps and box-office record charts, How Charts Lie demystifies an essential new literacy, one that will make us better equipped to navigate our data-driven world." -- Amazon.com

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