Chartjunk, Polljunk
Wednesday March 23, 2005
Can someone with bucks please send CNN a set of
Edward Tufte books and a complimentary registration to his next conference? Talk about using an image to distort poll data (Tufte's favorite "chartjunk" moniker) -- this one sets a new gold standard. It implies that beliefs about the Schiavo case vary wildly dependiing on party affiliation. Unfortunately, hand-wringing over the poor illustration masks the fact that the data themselves are almost meaningless: the error rate on this "scientific" poll is +/-7 percent!
The niggling 7 percent margin of error means, however, that there is no statistical difference between the parties based on this poll.
To their credit, someone at CNN revised the chart so that the scale now starts at "zero" instead of "53" -- showing a more accurate picture that most Americans, regardless of party, answered "yes" when asked: "Based on what you have heard or read about the case, do you agree with the court's decision to have the feeding tube removed?"
The revision occurred after, I suppose, after they saw the clue-by-four at MediaMatters. (nod to Hullabaloo)
