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Presenting data professionallyBy Raymund B. HabaradasManagement and Organization DepartmentDe La Salle University
Florence Nightingale and the pie chartFlorence Nightingale is best remembered as the mother of modern nursing. Few realize, however, that she also occupies a place in history for her use of graphical methods to convey complex statistical information.
After witnessing deplorable sanitary conditions in the Crimea, she wrote Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army (1858), which included colourful polar-area diagrams where statistics being represented were proportional to the area of a wedge in a circular diagram. These charts visually illustrated that far more deaths were attributable to non-battle causes such as unsanitary conditions than to battle related causes.
Polar diagram, also known as the “Nightingale Rose Diagram”
Florence Nightingale and the pie chartWith this information, Nightingale helped to promote the idea that social phenomena could be objectively measured and subjected to mathematical analysis. And through this statistical approach, Nightingale convinced military authorities, Parliament and Queen Victoria to carry out her proposed hospital reforms – which resulted in a decline in the mortality rate for soldiers.
As Nightingale demonstrated, statistics provided an organized way of learning and led to improvements in medical and surgical practices. She also developed a Model Hospital Statistical Form that could be used to collect and generate consistent data and statistics. She became a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in 1858, an honorary member of the American Statistical Association in 1874, and has been acknowledged as a “prophetess” in the development of applied statistics.
Effective data presentationConverts raw data to a more
digestible form (e.g. summary tables, charts, and graphs)
Shows important information at a glance
Enhances understandingDelivers insight from dataPersuades decision makers
Table 1. I have a healthy daily diet
Response f %
Strongly agree 2 3.70%
Agree 25 46.30%
Neither agree nor disagree 18 33.33%
Disagree 9 16.67%
Strongly disagree 0 0.00%
Total 54 100%
To the statement “I have a healthy diet”, only half responded either with an “agree” (46%) or strongly agree (4%). About 33% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement, while the other 17% disagreed. This translated into a mean score of 2.629.
Only half of Lasallians say they have a healthy diet.
Make it easy for your reader. Don’t make him work too hard, trying to understand your paper.
“If your paper is easy to read and understand, then much time and care must have been invested in writing it. That paper deserves a high grade.” – Sir Habs
Common mistakes in presenting tablesTitles are not descriptive enoughUnits of measure are not stated
clearlyColumn widths are inconsistent
and disproportionateTable sizes are inconsistentTables are not self-explanatoryNo notes to explain abbreviations
or unusual terminology
What’s wrong with this table?
Online spending and purchases by Internet users in selected countriesSpending Purchases
Belgium 790 6Denmark 1159 11France 509 8Germany 521 10Italy 454 7Netherlands 681 7Norway 1406 7Spain 452 5Sweden 1013 9United Kingdom 1201 18
What are the improvements?Table 1. Online spending and purchases by Internet users in selected countries in Western Europe, September 2006 (average)
CountrySpending (in Euro) Purchases
Norway 1406 7United Kingdom 1201 18Denmark 1159 11Sweden 1013 9Belgium 790 6Netherlands 681 7Germany 521 10France 509 8Italy 454 7Spain 452 5Source: Synovate and SPA Market Research - UK for the European Interactive
Advertising Association (EIAA), January 2007
Inconsistent table sizes
Table 1. I have a healthy daily diet
Response f %
Strongly agree 2 3.70%
Agree 25 46.30%
Neither agree nor disagree 18 33.33%
Disagree 9 16.67%
Strongly disagree 0 0.00%
Total 54 100%
Table 2. The canteens in school provide nutritious food
Response f %
Strongly agree 1 1.85%
Agree 21 38.89%
Neither agree nor disagree 23 42.59%
Disagree 8 14.81%
Strongly disagree 1 1.85%
Total 54 100%
Avoid distorting tables by indiscriminately pulling them vertically or horizontally, without regard for their original proportions. Be careful when you copy-paste and resize tables.
Consistent table sizes
Table 1. I have a healthy daily diet
Response f %
Strongly agree 2 3.70%
Agree 25 46.30%
Neither agree nor disagree 18 33.33%
Disagree 9 16.67%
Strongly disagree 0 0.00%
Total 54 100%
Table 2. The canteens in school provide nutritious food
Response f %
Strongly agree 1 1.85%
Agree 21 38.89%
Neither agree nor disagree 23 42.59%
Disagree 8 14.81%
Strongly disagree 1 1.85%
Total 54 100%
Make sure that tables are aligned across the manuscript. Column widths and heights, as well as the typefaces and font sizes, of similar tables must also be consistent. This makes for a professional-looking document.
Don’t forget to use the prescribed APA standards for tables – no vertical lines, and sparing use of horizontal lines.
Common mistakes in presenting diagrams or figures
Titles are not descriptive enoughDiagrams don’t have axis labelsAbsence of key or legendInappropriate diagrams or graphs
What is wrong with this graph?
More appropriate graph
For descriptive statisticsFrequency tablesCross-tabulationsMeasures of central tendency and
dispersionBar charts (single or multiple)HistogramsLine graphs (single or multiple)Pareto diagramsPie charts Box plotsPictograms
Frequency table and bar chart
Pareto diagram
Box plot components
Geograph
For inferential statisticsCross-tabulationsT-test resultsANOVA test resultsChi-square test resultsCorrelation test resultsRegression test results
ANOVA and correlationTable 9. ANOVA results – pre-final grade and final exams
Presenting data professionallyBy Raymund B. HabaradasManagement and Organization DepartmentDe La Salle University