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Quality in Information Delivery Part 5: What's the Message?
October 2011
Michael Scofield
Throughout this series[1],[2],[3],[4], we’ve noted that proper data expression is required to highlight potentially useful information, and that such data expression is achieved by transforming raw data from digital media into a form that humans can read and understand.
Although we’ve examined common errors in data presentation (e.g., the misuse of charts, colors, dimensions), and the importance of documenting and including data provenance in the reports that we prepare, we have not yet focused on the most important aspect of data presentation, namely determining the Message that we wish our presentation to convey. This final article in the series introduces this subject.