GimmeTheScoop‘s recent graphic about Private Student Loans has gotten alot of publicity and mileage, but a detailed look at it gets a bit confusing. Neal Levene of SimpleComplexity takes a very in-depth look at it and finds numerous problems ranging from poor aesthetic choices to just plain misleading data. For example:
I don’t like that the left chart is per student data and the right is for the whole industry. How many students were there receiving loans? Is the issue that the number of students increased? Are loans to people at private colleges included in the data at the right? It is suggested by the graphic that the left and right are correlated, but there are many alternate hypotheses.
It’s an excellent critique, and towards the end he shows an alternate chart (made from data he derived from the existing graph) which does a far better job showing the information.
@Neal Levene
I understand, and feel your pain. I just completed a move from my previous host to here, and it was quite nearly a disaster. Thankfully, it’s over now and everything is running smoothly.
Thanks for the mention Randall. I spent some time on that post. Too bad I posted it on a day when all kinds of problems occurred at my host.
Sigh, my 404 log needed an effective data visualization. I lost a few comments and images were not serving right. I apologize to anyone who visited yesterday.
It is never a great idea to critique something on a day your website is not working. Grin, a powerful lesson in putting one’s house in order before handing out advice.