ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an explanation of characteristics of effective visual displays based on recommendations from the literature. It also presents examples of visual displays that might work well for the types of quantitative metrics used in test fraud analyses. The chapter focuses on design principles and selecting visual displays to effectively convey the sometimes complex results of test fraud analyses. Several visual display scholars have put forth recommendations for choosing and creating effective displays. Although these scholars sometimes provide conflicting guidance, several general design principles can be synthesized from the literature. The principles are choose displays that are appropriate for the data, aim for simplicity, integrate text, numbers, and figures, highlight what is important, do not intentionally mislead, and air the design with the audience. The chapter explores each of these principles of test fraud analysis. The choice of visual display can influence both the visual impact and the richness of data that can be shared.
