Data analysis- tabulation

Methods of communicating and displaying analysed data 

Having analysed the data that you collected through either quantitative or qualitative method(s), the next task is to present your findings to your readers. The main purpose of using data display techniques is to make the findings easy and clear to understand, and to provide extensive and comprehensive information in a succinct and effective way.

There are many ways of presenting information. The choice of a particular method should be determined primarily by your impressions/knowledge of your likely readership’s familiarity with the topic and with the research methodology and statistical procedures. If your readers are likely to be familiar with ‘reading’ data, you can use complicated methods of data display; if not, it is wise to keep to simple techniques.

 Broadly, there are four ways of communicating and displaying the analysed data. These are:

1. text;

2. tables;

3. graphs; and

4. statistical measures.

 Because of the nature and purpose of investigation in qualitative research, text becomes the dominant and usually the sole mode of communication. In quantitative studies, the text is very commonly combined with other forms of data display methods, the extent of which depends upon your familiarity with them, the purpose of the study and what you think would make it easier for your readership to understand the content and sustain their interest in it. 

    Hence as a researcher it is entirely up to you to decide the best way of communicating your findings to your readers.

 Tabulation - Construction of tables

 Tables 

Structure

Other than text, tables are the most common method of presenting analysed data.

 According to The Chicago Manual of Style (1993: 21), ‘Tables offer a useful means of presenting large amounts of detailed information in a small space.’ According to the Commonwealth of Australia Style Manual (2002: 46), ‘tables can be a boon for readers. They can dramatically clarify text, provide visual relief, and serve as quick point of reference.’ It is, therefore, essential for beginners to know about their structure and types.

 A table has five parts: 

1. Title – This normally indicates the table number and describes the type of data the table contains. It is important to give each table its own number as you will need to refer to the tables when interpreting and discussing the data. The tables should be numbered sequentially as they appear in the text. The procedure for numbering tables is a personal choice. If you are writing an article, simply identifying tables by number is sufficient. In the case of a dissertation or a report, one way to identify a table is by the chapter number followed by the sequential number of the table in the chapter. The main advantage of this procedure is that if it becomes necessary to add or delete a table when revising the report, the table numbers for that chapter only, rather than for the whole report, will need to be changed.

The description accompanying the table number must clearly specify the contents of that table. In the description, identify the variables about which information is contained in the table, for example ‘Respondents by age’ or ‘Attitudes towards uranium mining’. If a table contains information about two variables, the dependent variable should be identified first in the title, for example ‘Attitudes towards uranium mining [dependent variable] by gender [independent variable]’. 

2. Stub – The subcategories of a variable, listed along the y-axis (the left-hand column of the table). According to The McGraw-Hill Style Manual (Long year 1983: 97), ‘The stub, usually the first column on the left, lists the items about which information is provided in the horizontal rows to the right.’ The Chicago Manual of Style (1993: 331) describes the stub as: ‘a vertical listing of categories or individuals about which information is given in the columns of the table’.

 3. Column headings – The subcategories of a variable, listed along the x-axis (the top of the table). In univariate tables (tables displaying information about one variable) the column heading is usually the ‘number of respondents’ and/or the ‘percentage of respondents’. In bivariate tables (tables displaying information about two variables) it is the subcategories of one of the variables displayed in the column headings (Table 16.3). 

Tables can be Univariate- A simple table showing only one characteristic.. Bivariate/ two-fold table, where two characteristics are included. Similarly, manifold tables show many characteristics.

Examples are given below

 

Percentage Distribution of the Respondents According to Nature of Migration

Nature of Migration	No. of Respondents	Percentage

  Distribution of Consumers According to their Education and Occupation

Education	Fixed Salary Job	Business	Professio n	Wage Earner	Other	Total

 4. Body – The cells housing the analysed data. 

5. Supplementary notes or footnotes – There are four types of footnote: source notes; other general notes; notes on specific parts of the table; and notes on the level of probability (The Chicago Manual of Style 1993: 333). If the data is taken from another source, you have an obligation to acknowledge this. The source should be identified at the bottom of the table, and labelled by the word ‘Source:’. Similarly, other explanatory notes should be added at the bottom of a table.

 The different parts of a table 

Title

Subhead	Caption
	Column Head		Column Head
Stud	Subcolumn head	Subcolumn head	Subcolumn head	Subcolumn head
Stud Entries	B	O	D	Y

Footnotes:

Source:

 

Title: Each table has its title describing the contents.

Sub Head: It describes the characteristic of the stub entries.

Stub Entries: These are the classification of actual data.

Caption Head: This explains the data placed in each column of caption head.

Body: It contains the data in classified form.

Foot Note: It may be used to describe anything.

Source: Disclosing the source of information.