OTWONO LABS / NOTEBOOK
Read a chart carefully
Learn one step at a time, with examples, practice and a place for your questions.
Start this lessonOriginal introductory guidance from OTWONO Labs. Examples are illustrative and do not report an actual study or award learning credit.
Read the frame first
Find the title, source, date, units and axis labels. Determine whether the chart shows counts, proportions, rates or another measure. A chart without this context may support fewer conclusions than its headline suggests.
Inspect the scale
Check where each axis starts and whether intervals are equal. A narrow vertical range can make a small difference look dramatic. That does not automatically make a chart wrong, but the scale should be clear.
Check what is absent
Look for missing dates, omitted groups and unexplained gaps. Do not assume a line between two observations means every point between them was measured.
Separate description from explanation
A chart can show two measures moving together without identifying why. Write the visible pattern first, then separately list explanations that would need additional evidence.
Try it
Draw fictional values of 98, 100 and 102 twice. Give one chart a vertical axis from 0 to 110 and the other from 97 to 103. Write the same numerical change beneath both. Notice how presentation changes the impression without changing the values.
Published September 2026. Suggest a correction or browse the library.