Guess what the Graph Shows!

[Arneb]

I am always stumbling over this outlier to the right... Hm

The outlier is the reason I got the idea. (I made the graph myself, but I'll mention the data source when the puzzle is solved.)

Do the dots represent years?

Each dot is an annual measure of something.

The outlier is also the reason that I constantly get the feeling I've seen this before (if not in your graph, than in something similar).

[Lance]

The last dot is not 2015.

Is it 2014?

[tubeswell]

Donations to the Llama King and Queen over the last month?

(All going well, I'm hoping to be in a position to add to such a graph in a fortnight BTW)

[Lance]

Donations to the Llama King and Queen over the last month?

I can assure you that's not it.

[Мастер]

The last dot is not 2015.

Is it 2014?

No, that would have made the outlier 2002. But it isn't.

[Lance]

No, that would have made the outlier 2002. But it isn't.

Okay, good. The outlier is neither 2003 nor 2002. We are narrowing this down.

[Arneb]

that makes 12.699999998 instead of 12.7 billion years to choose from. We're on to something here.

[Lance]

Yeah, that's pretty much the exact thought I had too.

[Мастер]

You're stopping a little too soon.

[Lance]

You're stopping a little too soon.

Does that mean the last dot is after 2015?

[Мастер]

You're stopping a little too soon.

Does that mean the last dot is after 2015?

No, that's not quite what I meant.

Do you think it likely that I've got detailed statistics on some quantity on an annual basis from, let's say, 12 billion years ago?

Also, I mentioned it was sociological - I think that should cut a bunch of billions out of your window of possibilities.

[Lance]

... detailed statistics on some [sociological] quantity on an annual basis from, let's say, 12 billion years ago?

Right. I was going with Ancient Aliens

[Мастер]

The data are the most recent available (at least that I found).

[Lance]

The data are the most recent available (at least that I found).

So the last dot is 20XX?

[Arneb]

Out of a dark corner of my mind: Is it German inland car sales? There was a time (2009 or so), wehn Germany payed every car owner a premium for taking their car out of circulation, as an incentive to buy new ones (lovingly called Abwrackpämie, if you must know).It was a measure to cusion the effects of the world economic crisis that ensued after Lehman Brothers, and it bumped German car sales for exactly one year - that is the outlier right of centre.

[Lance]

Just bringing it forward again.

[Lance]

Out of a dark corner of my mind: Is it German inland car sales? There was a time (2009 or so), wehn Germany payed every car owner a premium for taking their car out of circulation, as an incentive to buy new ones (lovingly called Abwrackpämie, if you must know).It was a measure to cusion the effects of the world economic crisis that ensued after Lehman Brothers, and it bumped German car sales for exactly one year - that is the outlier right of centre.

That would make the last dot 2021.

[Мастер]

The data are the most recent available (at least that I found).

So the last dot is 20XX?

The last dot is indeed 20XX, with XX not equal to 15 and XX not equal to 14.

Out of a dark corner of my mind: Is it German inland car sales? There was a time (2009 or so), wehn Germany payed every car owner a premium for taking their car out of circulation, as an incentive to buy new ones (lovingly called Abwrackpämie, if you must know).It was a measure to cusion the effects of the world economic crisis that ensued after Lehman Brothers, and it bumped German car sales for exactly one year - that is the outlier right of centre.

I did not know that. The graph is rather specific to a country other than Germany.

[Lance]

The employment rate of computer programmers proficient in COBOL with the last dot being 2011?

[Мастер]

The employment rate of computer programmers proficient in COBOL with the last dot being 2011?

Nothing to do with COBOL programming, and last dot is not 2011.

[Lance]

2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000

[Lance]

[Мастер]

As per previous hint, it is the most up-to-date data set I could find.

[Arneb]

Road traffic deaths in the U.S., the outlier being 2001 due to everyone using highways instead of flying (then, the last dot is 2013)?

[Lance]

As per previous hint, it is the most up-to-date data set I could find.

Where did you look?