Homework #3: Slope Charts and Manipulating Data

The slope chart above displays the HDI (Human Development Index) of The U.S., the U.K., Russia, Finland, France, and Rwanda from the years 1990 to 2020. I’ve tried to present the data that tells a specific story — although it’s definitely a bit manipulative. The chart presents The U.S., the U.K., Russia, Finland, and France as all performing relatively well and within the same range, leaving Rwanda far behind.

Given its starting point, Rwanda has actually done much more to improve their HDI than any other country on the chart. However, I believe that most people viewing this chart would first compare Rwanda’s scores to that of the other countries and come away with a very different perception. A viewer would probably also come away with a different impression if all 170 data sets were shown on the same chart, providing a more global context for each score.