Date of Award

9-1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Abstract

This study investigated if decision makers could be mislead by computer generated vertical bar graphs that contained varying intensities of fill patterns. It also investigated if the misleading influence of vertical bar graphs caused any differences in interpretation or decision making. A literature review revealed a need to test bar graphs with varying intensities of fill patterns in a controlled environment. By creating vertical bar graphs that use fill patterns, stronger impressions may be produced on the decision maker which may lead to misinterpretations of the underlying data. An experiment was conducted on 182 mid to upper level Department of Defense managers. The experimental group were asked to act as loan evaluators and decide if three fictitious company's should be approved for a loan based on a graphical or tabular presentation of each company's financial data. After reviewing each companys' presentation, the experimental group were then asked to determine a loan amount given specific decision rules. Results showed that differences in interpretation and decision making were created by the trend of the financial data even after data were normalized for the effects of trend. It could not be concluded that fill patterns caused any difference in interpretation or decision making.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GLM-LAS-93S-23

DTIC Accession Number

ADA276274

Comments

Presented to the Faculty of the School of Logistics and Acquisitions Management of the Air Force Institute of Technology

The authors' Vita pages are omitted.

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