This ACTUAL CHART put out by the State of Georgia is HORRIBLE on so MANY points. I was nearly screaming at the TV last night because I saw the problems right away. I'm sure others have helped sort this out, but here's my version too. #Thread 1/
First, let's read the heading and the caption:
Top 5 Counties with the Greatest Number of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases ... 2/
Top 5 Counties with the Greatest Number of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases ... 2/
"The chart below represents the most impacted counties over the past 15 days and the number of cases over time. The table below also represents the number of deaths and hospitalizations in each of those impacted counties." 3/
Which is it? Is it the total number of cases? Or is it the number of deaths? or is it the number hospitalizations? Or is the the "sum total of hospitalizations and deaths on each day" (which would be an odd way to report the numbers). 4/
Of course, the first obvious problem is the order of dates on the x-axis: 28-Apr, 27-Apr, 29-Apr, 1-May, 30-Apr, 6-May, 4-May, 5-May, 25-Apr, 2-May, 7-May, 26-Apr, 3-May, 8-May, 9-May ... 5/
Really? 28, 27, 28, 1, 30, 6, 4, 5, 25, 2, 7, 26, 3, 8, 9? The only people who count like that are confused toddlers still learning to make syllables and noise. We laugh, then correct them. ... 6/
Next, it's hard to read the consistent story when the order of the five counties in the chart keep moving around (not to mention there's some really bad color use in this chart). ... 7/
Here's my best guess at the raw numbers, now in chron order and the counties in the same order ... 8/ 
the original Georgia chart above and compared to my reconstructed best guess chart ... 9/
But that's still not making sense, when you look at that heading and caption. Could those be "new deaths on that date" and should we be making totals to date? Here's what Totals to Date look like.
What should we learn?
Read the headings. Read the captions. Read the legend. Read the X- and Y-axis. And then ask if that's even an accurate chart to tell the story of the numbers. Also, all charts need to have the numbers available.
Read the headings. Read the captions. Read the legend. Read the X- and Y-axis. And then ask if that's even an accurate chart to tell the story of the numbers. Also, all charts need to have the numbers available.
Hey Georgia!
SHOW. YOUR. WORK.
It's not that hard.
SHOW. YOUR. WORK.
It's not that hard.
