Question

I’d die without my phone! In a survey of over 2000 U.S. teenagers by Harris Interactive, 47% said that “their social life would end or be worsened without their cell phone.” 46 One survey question asked the teens how important it is for their phone to have certain features. The following figure displays data on the percent who indicated Page Number: 83 Page Number: 84 that a particular feature is vital.

Part (a). Explain how the graph gives a misleading impression.

Part (b). Would it be appropriate to make a pie chart to display these data? Why or why not?

Short answer

Part (a)All cell phones should have the same width.

Part (b) Not appropriate.

Step-by-step solution

Part (a) Step 1. Given information

The following figure displays data on the percent.

Part (a) Step 2. how the graph gives a misleading impression. 

The proportion of cell phones is not proportional to the percentages given.

This emphasises the distinctions between the categories. For example, the send/receive text message has 39% of the vital responses while the camera has 19%, making the text message appear to be roughly twice as important as the camera. However, we should note that the smartphone for text messages is roughly four times the size of the smartphone for cameras, so the differences between the two categories are exaggerated.

Furthermore, all cell phones should have the same width, while the height indicates the percentage.

As a result:

All cell phones should have the same width.

Part (b) Step 1. Would a pie chart be appropriate for displaying these data?

Add all of the percentages given:

46% +39% +1% +17%: = 121%

It is not appropriate to create a pie chart because the total percent is greater than 100 percent, whereas the total percent for a pie chart should be 100 percent.

Furthermore, you can see that constructing a pie chart is inappropriate because the percentages of the different categories do not represent a part of the same whole.

As a result:

Not appropriate