Exercise 3.1

For each of the following contexts, identify the most appropriate chart type.

• Illustrate who won the Iowa caucuses.
• Illustrate the relative spending of the US government on entitlement programs, defense, etc.
• Illustrate how a political candidate has fared throughout the the campaign season relative to the other candidates.
• Illustrate the potential correlation between income growth during a political party’s time in office and the percentage of vote won by that incumbent party in the following election.

Draw a picture of how each graph would appear.

Exercise 3.2

What’s wrong, if anything, with the following visualizations?

• Chart 1
• Chart 2
• Chart 3
• Chart 4
• Chart 5
• Chart 6

Try to figure out what the chart is presenting and identify which, if any, of the misleading graphic practices it violates. If it is bad, suggest how you would improve it.