9/25 homework post

I actually found the readings and video really interesting! I always knew that I personally found it easier to recall data when it was presented as a picture, but I didn’t realize that those in professional fields felt the same. I was surprised when Krista Schnell said that people spend hours trying to make their data more viewer friendly through multiple softwares. She stated that “They would most
commonly be used for one-time publication-worthy data visualizations. While they are more aesthetically pleasing, they take much more time, effort, and knowledge to create”. Its interesting how people will go the extra mile just to get their point (or data) across to others. Although pictures and illustrations are helpful, the Hans Rosling TED talk made me think that they may not always be necessary to get a point across. He had used several graphs that lacked illustrative luster, but his ideas were still intriguing. He was able to do this just by speaking with passion and keeping the audience excited with jokes, movements, and stories. Yes, his graph about child mortality moved to represent the year they were showing, but I think his tone helped the audience engage with the presentation more. Finally, I thought the statements from How to Lie with Statistics was pretty on point. The illustrations were quite compelling and I found myself looking at them from time to time while reading. It helps draw the readers attention and makes the data more eye-catching.