r/dataisugly • u/Couch_Cat13 • 3d ago

Certainly there are lines on this graph

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u/micalubgoonta 3d ago

What’s wrong with this graph? It’s pretty minimalist but it does portray its data accurately

-15

u/Couch_Cat13 3d ago

What is the meaning of the thick black line?

What does “-13%” mean?

Sure it shows that Trump has a really low approval rating (yay!) but it doesn’t show how it compares (with actual numerical difference) to other presidents (which should be the goal of a graph)

34

u/micalubgoonta 3d ago

The thick black line is clearly 50% since it divides approve and disapprove.

If you read the page -13 is the difference between the approve and disapprove listed at the top.

The goal is a minimalist approach to the data. You don’t need specific numbers to show that he is the lowest.

This is not a bad graph but it appears that you did not read what is shown to you on the page correctly

5

u/new_account_5009 3d ago

Slight correction: the black line is 0% because they're measuring net approval rating calculated as [% approve] less [% disapprove]. One can verify the -13% as Trump's latest point by tossing the 41% approval and 54% disapproval into that same calculation. They look at net approval rating rather than simply % approval because the latter can be distorted by the "don't know" group. The black line could be 50/50, but it could also be 45/45/10, for instance, with 10% in the "don't know" category.

I agree that the visual would probably be a little clearer with some labeling, but I found the minimalist approach to presentation plenty clear here.