Identifying Deception as a Critical Component of Visualization Literacy
Jorge D. Camba, Pedro Company, Vetria Byrd
Abstract
The ability to recognize misleading data visualizations is a key aspect of visualization literacy. In this article, we argue that learning to successfully identify a deceptive graphic requires strategies that deliberately force learners to take an active role in the visualization process. We describe a series of experiments where three groups of learners were shown various deceptive graphics and asked to answer a series of questions. Three different interventions were analyzed to compare the educational effectiveness of the strategies used to engage learners into the process of identifying deceptive visualizations. Our results suggest that the ability to identify deceptive visualizations must be explicitly taught as a core element of visualization literacy. Although both traditional and self-learning approaches are beneficial, the more active the intervention, the higher its educational effectiveness.