Choosing tools to present numbers:
Tables, charts, and prose
Jane E. Miller, PhD
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Overview
• Three tools for presenting numbers
• General tasks involved in writing about numbers
• Criteria for selecting the right tool(s) for each
task
• Examples
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Pick the right tool(s) for the job
• Prose
– Body of text.
– Footnotes.
– Appendices.
• Tables
– To accompany text.
– Appendices.
• Charts
– To accompany text.
– Appendices.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Strengths and weaknesses
of different tools
Strengths
Easiest way to
explain patterns
Prose

Table



Chart



Weaknesses
Hard to organize a
lot of numbers

Holds lots of #s
Harder to "see"
patterns (direction &
Good for detail
Predictable structure magnitude)

Holds lots of #s
Difficult to see
Easy to see general precise values
patterns
Predictable structure

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Tools for each task
• In most writing about numbers, will have
several separate tasks, e.g.,
– Few numeric facts in the introduction;
– Descriptive statistics on several variables;
– Estimated coefficients from multivariate models;
– Complex patterns, e.g., polynomials or interactions;
– Summary of major findings in discussion section.
• For each task, choose the 1 or 2 best tools
– Complementary use of prose with table or chart.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
When to use prose
• To ask and answer questions using numbers as
evidence
– Introduce the topic (“word problem”)
– Explain the purpose of numbers to be presented
– Show how numbers or patterns answer the word
problem at hand
• To report or interpret a few numbers
– Describe trends
– Explain numeric contrasts
– Summarize patterns
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
When not to use prose
• When you there are more than a handful of
numbers involved in a pattern, e.g.,
– Annual prices for several regions and products over
a period of several years or decades
– Individual values that comprise a bivariate or threeway association
– Estimated coefficients and standard errors for each
of a dozen variables
– Estimated coefficients for a variable in each of
several nested or stratified models
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Why not to use prose
to report lots of numbers
• To identify and interpret each number, need the
associated W’s and units.
– What, when, where, who
– How many
– Units
• Reporting lots of numbers in prose requires many
sentences.
– All those W’s and units clutter up the prose;
– Make it difficult to find the pertinent number;
– Also hard to see overall pattern among the numbers.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Prose versus table
Standard & Poor 500
Stock
Open
Close
High
Low
ABC
$
$
$
$
AQR
$
$
$
$
…
…
…
…
…
BBB
$
$
$
$
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
ZAB
$
$
$
$
ZZZ
$
$
$
$
• Do you really want to
read separate sentences
reporting the opening,
closing, high, and low
prices for 500 stocks
every day?
• A table provides
– An easy to follow
structure for locating the
specific stocks and prices
– Precise prices (to the
cent)
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Table versus chart
This chart displays 70 numbers
 For each of past five days
 Record high and low (blue)
 Average high and low (yellow)
 Actual high and low (pink)
 For each of the next five days




Record high and low (blue)
Average high and low (yellow)
Range of forecast high (pink)
Range of forecast low (pink)
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Table version
Record, average, and actual or forecast high and low temperatures (°F),
New York City, January 14 – 23, 2005
Fr.
Sa.
Su.
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Th.
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The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
When to use a chart
• Charts are good for quickly conveying
– Approximate values and patterns.
– Direction and magnitude of associations.
• Useful for
– Speeches, where your audience only has a little time
to see the shape of a pattern.
– Displaying complicated patterns.
• Nonlinear
• Comparing lines that are diverging, converging, crossing
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Comparisons on this chart
• Easy to see
– Trends across time in
• Record values
• Average values
• Actual values
– Comparison of actual to
record or average
– Range of temperatures
on a given day
– Level relative to a
comparison value, e.g.,
freezing point
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Trend in actual temperature
• “The high temperature
plummeted 30° between
January 14 and 15 (63°F
and 33°F, respectively).”
• “The high temperature
on January 15 barely
reached the level of the
low temperature from
the preceding day.”
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Actual versus record and average
• Put that change in
context by comparing
actual to record and
average temperatures:
• “Although the high
temperature on the 14th
neared record levels for
that date, by the next
day, temperatures were
back in the normal
range.”
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
When to use a table
• Tables are good for organizing lots of numbers
when exact values are needed.
– Comparing test statistics against critical values,
– Making calculations with others’ data,
• E.g., comparing temperatures or prices New York to
Chicago to Los Angeles from published data.
• Useful for reporting
– Detailed statistical results from multivariate models,
– Data for others to use in their own computations.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Record, average, and actual or forecast high and low
temperatures (°F), New York City, January 14 – 23, 2005
Fr.
Sa. Su. Mo.
Tu.
We.
Th.
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Sa. Su.
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The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Record, average, and actual or forecast high and low
temperatures (°F), Los Angeles, January 14 – 23, 2005
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Sa. Su. Mo.
Tu.
We.
Th.
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Sa. Su.
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The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Estimated coefficients from an OLS models of birth weight (grams) by
race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and smoking, U.S., 1988–1994
Variable
Coefficient
Std. error
Intercept
Race/ethnicity
(Non-Hispanic White)
Mexican American
Non-Hispanic Black
Mother’s education
Less than high school
High school graduate
(College+)
Boy
Mother’s age at birth of child (yrs.)
3,318.8**
25.1
–23.0
–172.6**
22.7
17.5
–55.5**
–53.9**
19.3
14.8
117.2**
10.7**
12.0
1.2
Income-to-poverty ratio (IPR)a
IPR2
Mother smoked during pregnancy
80.5**
–9.9**
–194.7**
14.5
2.3
14.4
F-statistic (df)
BIC
Adjusted R2
*p < 0.05
94.08 (9)
-728.4;
0.082
**p < 0.01
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
When not to use a table
• Avoid using tables with lots of detailed
numbers in
– Slides for a speech
• Type size will be too small for audience to read
– Formats for nonscientific audiences
• Too many numbers will overwhelm rather than inform
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Revising tables for use on slides
• For slides or nonscientific audiences:
– Revise a table with many detailed statistics into
several smaller tables.
– Create chart versions of portions of the table.
• Each slide will address one major point. E.g.,
– An association between one independent variable
and the dependent variable.
– How a coefficient changes across nested models.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Summary
• To decide among tables, charts, and prose for
presenting numbers, consider
– How many numbers?
– How much time?
– Precise values versus general levels or trends?
• Often, will complement a table or chart with
prose narrative description.
• Rarely use a table and a chart of the same
pattern.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Suggested resources
• For basic criteria for deciding among tables, charts and prose,
see chapters 1 and 2 in
– Miller, J. E. 2004. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers (“WA#”)
OR
– Miller, J. E. 2013. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate
Analysis, 2nd Edition. (“WAMA”).
• Chapters in WA# or WAMA on
–
–
–
–
Creating effective tables
Creating effective charts
Writing about distributions and associations
Speaking about numbers
• Chapter 20 in WAMA, on presenting to nonstatistical audiences.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Suggested online resources
• Podcasts on
– Reporting one number
– Summarizing a pattern
– Creating effective tables and charts
– Designing slides for a speech
– Presenting statistical results to nonstatistical
audiences
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Suggested practice exercises
• Study guide to The Chicago Guide to Writing
about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd Edition.
– Question #3 in the problem set for chapter 2
– Suggested course extensions for chapter 2
• “Reviewing” exercise #4
• “Writing” exercise #1
• “Revising” exercises #1 and #2
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.
Contact information
Jane E. Miller, PhD
jmiller@ifh.rutgers.edu
Online materials available at
http://press.uchicago.edu/books/miller/multivariate/index.html
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, 2nd edition.