First Aspect
Veteran
Are currency charts the only type of chart where it is acceptable for the X axis to not start at zero?
Starmer's vision quest
- Thread starter mjr
- Start date
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briantrumpet
Squire
Share prices too. Especially if you want to suggest a company is failing when its share price has 'dived' 2p in a couple of hours (ignoring that the price is £187 per share).
Pross
Senior Member
I remember someone on Cake Stop posting a graph that was supposedly showing a financial catastrophe but when looking at the graph it was split into fractions of a penny (I think it may also have had a distorted y axis). Can't recall who it was but could probably guess.
Psamathe
Guru
All sorts of things ... or do you mean y-axis?
PurplePenguin
Well-Known Member
Most complaints are about the y axis. Anything plotting time will not start at the big bang.
Obviously the legendary data journalist at the FT thinks starting the y axis at anything you like is fine. I'd say you need to establish what the base is. There is no point plotting a patient's temperature in kelvin.
The base for shares is 0.
Obviously in this case, you weren't actually looking for a response.
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briantrumpet
Squire
I carelessly assumed that that was what he meant. Must learn to read.
Bad Graphs was a standing joke on Cake Stop. So much so that if either the X or Y axis started at zero, it would be remarked on. We had a party if both did.
First Aspect
Veteran
I agree that there is generally a more compelling argument for starting the y axis at zero, and that's what I intended.
But in fairness I think the FT and Twitterati have an aptitude for distorting data using either axis.
But in fairness I think the FT and Twitterati have an aptitude for distorting data using either axis.
Pblakeney
Veteran
It's just high brow click/rage bait. 😉
