- decide how you want to present your data, in the text or in an illustration
- if your data is listed in words then its best to present it in a couple of sentences in your results section
- present data in graphs when you want to reveal some kind of trend or correlation
- if you want to give precise numbers then its important to prepare tables rather than graphs
- look for patterns in order to create the most useful table
- usually independent values go on the right and depend values go on the left
- it is best to use a graph when you want to stress the importance of standard error or deviation
- tables present data more precisely than a graph but don't usually clearly show trends within your data
- tables are a good way to present facts
- for a graph, it is trend that is more important than exact numbers
- design figures and tables by keeping the reader in mind in order to have a strong impact
- figures and tables must be able to stand on their own
- not all data needs to be described in the text, just emphasize your key findings and use tables and figures to back up conclusions you've made
- figures and legends need to be independent of the text, meaning the reader must be able to understand what is being portrayed by reading the title and the legend without searching the text for an explanation
- place info where you would want/expect the reader to find it
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