- Does using a chart make any difference in all cases or is the use of figures better in some cases but not others? Consider the charts and tables in Excel Fu when answering this question.
- What conclusions or decisions can you draw from the exercises in Excel Fu?
The next set of exercises deals with the problems of presenting data in misleading or deceptive ways. We will be using the ethics guide of Kroenke et al 2016 on page 14-15. The example described in the Ethics Guide shows three graphs: Figure 1 without any labels on the vertical axis, Figure 2 with labels, but not shown to scale, and Figure 3 drawn to scale. Before answering the discussion questions, think of the ethical issues around presenting each of these three graphs to an executive committee. You can explain this using principles like Kant’s categorical imperative; they are tools to help you think about ethics in a more structured way. They won’t (and can’t) tell you in absolute terms whether something is right or wrong, but they give you a framework to help you make your own ethical decisions.
- Suppose you created Figure 1 using Microsoft Excel. To do so, you keyed the data into Excel and clicked the Make Graph button. Voila, Excel created Figure 1 without any labels and drawn out-of- scale as shown. Without further consideration, you put the result into your presentation.
- Is your behaviour consistent with Kant’s categorical imperative? Why or why not?
- If Excel automatically produces graphs like Figure 1, is Microsoft’s behaviour consistent with Kant’s categorical imperative? Why or why not?
- Change roles. Assume now you are a member of the executive committee. A junior marketing professional presents Figure 1 to the committee, and you object to the lack of labels and the scale. In response, the junior marketing professional says, ‘Sorry, I didn’t know. I just put the data into Excel and copied the resulting graph.’ What conclusions do you, as an executive, make about the junior marketing professional in response to this statement?
- As the junior marketing professional, which graph do you present to the committee?
