Let's talk about data

I've been seeing this info graphic floating around. Let's talk about data here for a second.

First, as an American, I'm appalled by our handling of this. Our numbers are far worse than Canada's or any country on this graphic. We have failed incredibly. Please, keep the borders closed to us till we figure this out.

With that said, let's discuss this image you're looking at above, referenced in CTV News, which is a prominent news outlet in Canada (owned by Bell Media, in fact. I've actually done digital analytic work for them on their site). This image is full of confirmation bias. Yes, the numbers in the US are disgusting and shameful, but what you're looking at is a comparison of Canadian provinces to US counties. Not at all comparable, in terms of population density and landmass.

This is comparing US states instead of counties. It is a FAR better representation in terms of visual comparative analysis. Perfect? No. But a much better comparison. Clearly, the US is still horrible in terms of cases across states. But the first image gives a far worse visual representation.

We do need to be careful in our analysis of data, even on the side of "America is failing in it's handling of this." Both graphics point to that same outcome, one just says it in a much more biased way. We don't need to skew the data to prove this point. But we do become culpable if we twist the public with our bias.

Data is vital to our modern world. But just like history, it can be twisted ever so slightly to represent something just a little different than the truth. And even doing so ever so slightly is wrong.