Tabular Versus Textual Presentation

Tables are efficient, enabling the researcher to present a large amount of data in a small amount of space. Tables usually show exact numerical values, and the data are arranged in an orderly display of columns and rows, which aids comparison. For several reasons, it is worthwhile to be selective in choosing how many tables to include in your paper. First, a reader may have difficulty sorting through a large number of tables and may lose track of your message. Second, a disproportionately large number of tables compared with a small amount of text can cause problems with the layout of typeset pages; text that is constantly broken up with tables will be hard for the reader to follow. Third, tables are complicated to set in type and are therefore more expensive to publish than text. For these reasons, reserve tables for crucial data that are directly related to the content of your article and for simplifying text that otherwise would be dense with numbers.

Dense:

The mean final errors (with standard deviations in parentheses) for the Age X Level of Difficulty interaction were .05 (.08), .05 (.07), and .11 (.10) for the younger participants and .14 (.15), .17 (.15), and .26 (.21) for the older participants at low, moderate, and high levels of difficulty, respectively.

The reader can more easily comprehend and compare these data when they are presented in tabular form, as in Table Example. However, the data in unusually short and simple tables (e.g., a table with two or fewer columns and rows) are more efficiently presented in text.

Determine the amount of data the reader needs to understand the discussion, and then decide whether those data are best presented in text or as a table or figure. Peripherally related or extremely detailed data should be omitted or, depending on their nature, presented in an ap­pendix.

Tables usually present quantitative data. Occasionally, however, a table that consists of words is used to present qualitative comparisons.

Tables that communicate quantitative data are effective only when the data are arranged so that their meaning is obvious at a glance. A table should be organized so that entries that are to be compared are next to one another. Following this principle, it is generally the case that different indices (e.g., means, standard deviations, sample sizes) should be segregated into different parts of tables.

Many data tables have certain canonical forms. The advantage of using the canonical form is that the reader generally knows where to look in the table for certain kinds of information. Following example presents the canonical form for reporting correlations in two groups. There are sit­uations, however, where presentation in noncanonical form can enhance the reader's understanding of the point being made.

Table X

Error Rates of Older and Younger Groups

Exercise 3. Answer the following questions.

1) Which expressions in the text show causal relationship?

2) Which expression shows that more information will be added?

3) Which expression shows that the sentence will contradict something said earlier?

4) Which expression intensify the meaning of the sentences?

Exercise 4. Write down all to the words that indicate logical connections in the text “Tabular Verses Textual Presentation”. Several connectors may have more than one meaning; use a dictionary to find out more information.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 812