MisleadingCharts
All techniques

Framing & context

Spurious correlation

Margarine consumption and the divorce rate in Maine: a love story.

a.k.a. correlation ≠ causation

Comb through enough series and some will move together beautifully by pure chance — or because both quietly follow population, inflation, or time itself. A tight fit on a chart is not a mechanism.

How to spot it

  • No plausible reason the two things should be linked.
  • Both series simply trend upward over time. Most things do.
  • Dual y-axes doing the heavy lifting in the background.

The honest version

Ask what would have to be true for A to cause B, then check the confounders. Enjoy the coincidence; don’t publish it.

In the gallery