1.2 Reading Charts Right

Time: ~20 minutes

What You'll Learn

• The most common chart types and when each one is appropriate
• How to read axes, scales, and labels before looking at the data
• Specific tricks that make charts misleading (truncated axes, dual scales, cherry-picked timeframes)
• A quick checklist for evaluating any chart you encounter

Key Concepts

Charts are the most common way data gets presented to you. They look objective, but they're not -- every chart is a design choice, and those choices can make the same data tell very different stories.

In this lesson, Claude will show you real examples of:

• Truncated Y-axes that make small changes look dramatic
• Cherry-picked timeframes that hide unfavorable trends
• Misleading pie charts that compare things that don't add up
• Dual-axis charts that create false correlations

You'll practice evaluating charts from the sample data in your course folder and learn to ask the right questions before trusting any visualization.

How to Start

Open Claude Desktop and say:

start lesson 1.2

Skills You'll Use Later

• Chart evaluation (directly applies to Module 2's visualization lessons)
• Recognizing axis manipulation (helps when building your own charts with AI)
• The "what's missing?" question (used throughout the course)