Anne Harding

Chart Critique:

Estimates of the Net Number of Migrants, Select Countries,

By Five Year Intervals (in thousands, with the United States)

This chart, which compares the net number of migrants in several different countries across a 30-year time span, has several issues that Stephen Few would notice. Most importantly, the chart poorly conveys the temporal data it is representing; by placing the categorical country data on the x-axis, it is extremely difficult to see trends over time. This data would have been a very good candidate for line graph representation showing time series relationships. If, for whatever reason, the use-case for this particular chart demanded this particular representation, it could be improved by ordering countries along the x-axis from lowest average nets to highest average nets, so that comparisons could be more easily made. Finally, color choice and visual style may lead to some confusion in this chart. Although the colors represent time intervals, the colors do not seem to reflect that progression of time, which might be better conveyed with a monochromatic light-to-dark scale. Finally, the three-dimensional graphic effects are visually confusing, particularly with the smallest values.

The chart does do some thing correctly: the y-axis is consistently spaced and the values do begin at zero, which is essential for bar charts. While it is currently very difficult to compare values close to zero on the chart, that may be improved in a larger version of the chart, or if additional vertical space between y-axis points was added.

Quiz Results:

I have neither given nor received aid while working on this assignment. I have completed the graded portion BEFORE looking at anyone else's work on this assignment. Signed Anne Harding.