27 Provenance and quality
“Real evidence is usually vague and unsatisfactory. It has to be examined—sifted.”
Graphics can be used to discover and display information in data. If the data are poor, then the information will be poor. If the source is unreliable, then the information will be unreliable. Data are often taken for granted in data visualisation. The elegance and technical aspects of the visualisations are discussed more than the quality and interpretation of the data. There is a telling remark of Peter Huber’s: “Never underestimate the rawness of raw data.” There should be a complementary aphorism along the lines of “Don’t just look at the visualisation—look into the data.”