What is a consequence of artificially limiting the scope of data in a visualization?

• A. It reduces bias.
• B. It improves clarity.
• C. It expands context.
• D. It misleads the audience by presenting an incomplete or biased view of the data.

Answer: (D)

Limiting the data shown in a visualization changes how the story is told and can mislead viewers by presenting an incomplete or biased view of the data. When you cherry-pick or narrow the scope, important variations, exceptions, or counterexamples can be left out, which distorts interpretation and erodes trust. The consequence is that the audience may form conclusions based on a partial reality, not the full picture.

While narrowing data might seem to simplify things, it does not reduce bias or genuinely improve clarity in a trustworthy way; it actually introduces bias and reduces context. Expanding context or carefully presenting a representative dataset would be the right approach for accurate insight.