This document discusses how to improve the clarity of tables and graphs in research articles. It provides rules for constructing clear tables, such as splitting large tables and standardizing layout. When presenting tables, common problems to avoid are poorly positioning them on the page and manipulating spacing. Both tables and their contents should be explained in the text. The document also covers best practices for visualizations like pie charts, bar charts, and line graphs, noting tables are best for exact numbers while graphs show trends.

1. Franco Valdés
Constanza Martínez

2. 
IMPROVING THE
CLARITY OF TABLES
1.- How they are constructed
2.- How they are presented.

3. 
How they are
constructed
 Clarity of tables can be improved by paying
attention to:
Size, complexity and organisation
Captions and the prose descriptions of the tables
 Large tables and figures are comparatively rare in
most research articles Appendix

4. 
Rules
1. Split large tables into smaller ones
2. Produce one overall summary table rather than
several small tables
3. Provide clear captions that say what the table is
about, or tell the reader what the table shows (some
people look at the tables first before reading the
text)

5. 
Rules
4. round off the numbers so that readers can make
meaningful comparisons more easily (giving data to
four or five decimal points gives a misleading measure
of accuracy)

6. 
Rules
5. Consider including averages (averages not only
summarise the data but they also allow the reader
to grasp better the spread of the scores presented)
6. Use the same layout for a series of tables to avoid
subsequent confusion for the reader

7. 
Presenting tables
 Common problems:
a) The positioning of the tables on the page
b) How tables are fitted into the space allocated to
them
c) The space between the columns is manipulated to
make the table fit the space available, without
taking into account whether or not that space is
used to group the data appropriately

8. 
Prose descriptions of tables
 Tables, and their contents, have to be explained to
readers in the text

9. 
Prose descriptions of
tables
 ‘Statistics-based’

10. 
Prose descriptions of
tables
 ‘Reader-based’

11. 

12. 
 Concepts you need to know:
 Variable: An element, feature, or factor that is liable
to vary or change.
 Frecuency: the frequency of a particular data value is
the number of times the data value occurs
 Axis: The vertical and horizontal lines that make up
the quadrants of a coordinate plane. The vertical axis
is usally referred to as the y axis and the horizontal
axis is usually referred to as the x axis.
Before starting…

13. 
 Mainly problems of typesetting can affect the
appearance of graphs. And, like tables, graphs can be
separated to make them fit in the space available,
which can affect the perceived importance of the
results.
The clarity of graphs

14. 
Pie charts, bar charts and
line-graphs

15. 

16. 
 Bar charts are easy to construct and are usually clear,
but, again, difficulties arise with the labelling if
several different components on each measure are
presented.
Bar charts

17. 
 Line graphs are good for showing the performance
of two or more groups in different conditions,
especially when the data from the different groups
vary according to the condition they are in –
technically, when there is an ‘interaction’ between
them
Line graph

18. 
 Tables and graphs provide different ways of
presenting data, each with their advantages and
disadvantages.
 Tables are probably best for displaying exact
numbers; graphs for displaying trends in the data.
 Trend: If the values of one set of data increases and
the values of other set also increases then the two
sets of related data shows a positive trend (outcome).
Notes

19. 
 A pie chart is a circular chart divided into sectors,
illustrating relative magnitudes or frequencies. In a
pie chart, the area of each sector is proportional to
the quantity that represents. Together, the sectors
create a full circle.
 Pie charts are difficult to label and to read if they
contain several segments.
Pie chart

20. 
 Many of the features of tables and graphs discussed
above are also relevant to their presentation in
conferences. However, in conference presentations, it
is best to present data drastically simplified.
Tables and graphs in
conferences