Monday, November 28, 2011

100% Pie

PHD Comics - which I've previously described as Dilbert for graduate students - doesn't seem to get updated as often these days. Not that it's moribund, but rather than Jorge Cham is busy with various other projects, including a movie based on the comic and international appearances. Bit of a shame really.

Anyway there's a new strip yesterday, which I found deeply dissatisfying. It's not that I don't get the point, but I'm surprised that science PhD students would produce such inept pie charts. This information isn't at all appropriate for pie charts, because the categories aren't exclusive. A show on National Geographic might be debunking myths about dinosaurs, for instance. Even worse, I can't comprehend only 45% of programmes on The Science Channel being either about science or not about science. I'd fail an undergraduate who produced these graphs...

3 comments:

  1. They aren't terribly clear graphs, I agree.

    I suspect the methodology was to put all the shows 'genuinely' about science into one slice, then assign categories to all the shows that don't make the grade according to the author of the strip.

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  2. There was a good XKCD strip rebutting those who hate on Mythbusters as a 'science' show.

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