Crime taxonomy · Drawing and geometry

Visual does not match the data

The picture disagrees with the numbers printed on it.

What it looks like

Bar lengths, slice angles, icon sizes or point positions do not match the labels next to them. Often the numbers are real and only the drawing is inflated.

Example

The same data shown honestly: Bars drawn to the actual values on a zero baseline, with the margin of error in the title. — **The fix.** Bars drawn to the actual values on a zero baseline, with the margin of error in the title.

Why it is bad

Most readers trust the picture and skim the numbers, so the drawing wins.
It is rarely an accident: someone had to draw the shapes by hand or override the data.
This is the strongest signal of deliberate manipulation in the whole taxonomy.

How to fix it

Generate charts from the data, never by hand-adjusting shapes.
Check that every drawn length, angle or area is proportional to its label.
If a value is too small to see, annotate it rather than inflating it.

When it is not a crime. There is no innocent version of this. Small rendering rounding is not a crime; visible disagreement is.