i think this diagram is quite misleading. the number of deaths are represented by the area of the column, not the height (as would be assumed). therefore, it becomes hard to compare the number of deaths in each war without reading the written number. i.e. it looks, at first glance, that there were more deaths in the korean war than in the vietnam war.
Posted by: m3x at September 13, 2004 09:12 PM
You are right about the inability view along the Y-axis the absolute number of deaths. However, each conflict is only has two things in common: years of conflict and total deaths. Area seems appropriate because you can compare two conflicts of similar deaths in terms of a bloody short war, such as the Spanish American War (which lasted approximately 6 months) with a long drawn out war, such as the War of 1812 (which was 0.923 less bloody). A more complete analysis would have been to place a standard bar chart next to this diagram as a primary reference, for this diagram to counterpoise.
Posted by: plemeljr at September 13, 2004 09:39 PM
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i think this diagram is quite misleading. the number of deaths are represented by the area of the column, not the height (as would be assumed). therefore, it becomes hard to compare the number of deaths in each war without reading the written number. i.e. it looks, at first glance, that there were more deaths in the korean war than in the vietnam war.
Posted by: m3x at September 13, 2004 09:12 PM
You are right about the inability view along the Y-axis the absolute number of deaths. However, each conflict is only has two things in common: years of conflict and total deaths. Area seems appropriate because you can compare two conflicts of similar deaths in terms of a bloody short war, such as the Spanish American War (which lasted approximately 6 months) with a long drawn out war, such as the War of 1812 (which was 0.923 less bloody). A more complete analysis would have been to place a standard bar chart next to this diagram as a primary reference, for this diagram to counterpoise.
Posted by: plemeljr at September 13, 2004 09:39 PM
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