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Misuse of area

Misuse of area

One way for graphs to be misleading is to use an area representation that is not proportional to the value or frequency being represented.

This bar graph is attempting to draw attention to the amount of money spent weekly by Australian households on transport compared to other categories of household expenditure.

Colouring 'Transport' red and making the area of the bar twice as wide gives the impression that this represents twice the amount of money as the other bars.

Even the vertical scale is misleading in that the bar for 'Household Furnishings and Equipment' ($59) should be taller compared to 'Housing' ($223), but 'Transport' ($193) should be shorter.

There is advice for teaching area for graphs and an activity for students about area in graphs.

Yes

Yes

Name Class Section
Document Year 6: Interpret secondary data presented in digital media and elsewhere Infobox 3
Document Source Infobox 3