Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T18:06:37.493Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

21 - Designing Effective Graphs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Edward W. Frees
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Get access

Summary

Chapter Preview. Actuaries, like other business professionals, communicate quantitative ideas graphically. Because the process of reading, or decoding, graphs is more complex than reading text, graphs are vulnerable to abuse. To underscore this vulnerability, we give several examples of commonly encountered graphs that mislead and hide information. To help creators design more effective graphs and to help viewers recognize misleading graphs, this chapter summarizes guidelines for designing graphs that show important numerical information. When designing graphs, creators should

  1. (1) Avoid chartjunk.

  2. (2) Use small multiples to promote comparisons and assess change.

  3. (3) Use complex graphs to portray complex patterns.

  4. (4) Relate graph size to information content.

  5. (5) Use graphical forms that promote comparisons.

  6. (6) Integrate graphs and text.

  7. (7) Demonstrate an important message.

  8. (8) Know the audience.

Some of the guidelines for designing effective graphs, such as (6), (7), and (8), are drawn directly from principles for effective writing. Others, such as guidelines (3), (4), and (5), come from cognitive psychology, the science of perception. Guidelines (1) and (2) have roots both in effective writing and in graphical perception. For example, the writing principle of brevity demonstrates how eliminating pseudo three-dimensional perspectives and other forms of chartjunk improve graphs. As another example, the writing principle of parallel structure suggests using small multiple variations of a basic graphical form to visualize complex relationships across different groups and over time.

To underscore the scientific aspect of graphical perception, we examine the process of communicating with a graph, beginning with a sender's interpretation of data and ending with a receiver's interpretation of the graph.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Designing Effective Graphs
  • Edward W. Frees, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Book: Regression Modeling with Actuarial and Financial Applications
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511814372.022
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Designing Effective Graphs
  • Edward W. Frees, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Book: Regression Modeling with Actuarial and Financial Applications
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511814372.022
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Designing Effective Graphs
  • Edward W. Frees, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Book: Regression Modeling with Actuarial and Financial Applications
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511814372.022
Available formats
×