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11 Tables

Read time: 2 minutes

Overview

This chapter discusses the use of tables to show data in science.

Sections in this chapter

  • Tables in science
  • Table or text?
  • Table design

Tables in science

As we saw in the flow chart introducing this part, a table is a good option for presenting a large amount of data and when all of the details and exact values are important. If the data is important but too large for the body of an article, it is included in an Appendix or Supplementary Materials. Figure 11.1 shows the format of a typical figure in an article or thesis.

Table 1. Global Age Demographics

Age Group Population (millions) % of Total Population Annual Growth Rate (%) Notes ¹²
0–14 years 2,000.0 25.6% 1.3 ¹
15–24 years 1,200.0 15.4% 0.9 ¹
25–54 years 3,400.0 43.5% 0.5 ¹
55–64 years 800.0 10.2% 0.8 ²
65+ years 700.0 8.9% 2.4 ²

¹ Growth rates for younger age groups (0–24) reflect continued high birth rates in specific regions. ² Data for older age groups (55+) highlights the global trend of aging populations.

 

Column Headings: | Age Group | Population (millions) | % of Total Population | Annual Growth Rate (%) | Notes ¹² |

Footnote References: Located in the “Notes” column: Examples: ¹, ²

Footnotes: ¹ Growth rates for younger age groups (0–24) reflect continued high birth rates in specific regions. ² Data for older age groups (55+) highlights the global trend of aging populations.

Figure 11.1. A typical table of age demographics data.

Tables can supplement text and present numbers in a way that conveys meaningful relationships. They should be simple, concise, and use abbreviations or symbols in a way that is consistent with the text. Tables should have at least 3 columns and 4-5 rows, otherwise, the data might be better represented as text.

The title of a table should describe the contents without the reader having to refer to the text. Details that don’t fit in the table can be included in the footnotes.

Column headings should be limited to two lines and can use abbreviations or symbols, but make sure the units are shown in full.

Table or Text?

The small table below (Table 2) contains data that is better conveyed in a single sentence. The sentence provides clarity, compactness, and relevance, making the data easier to digest without the need for a formal table.

“Earth’s atmosphere is composed primarily of nitrogen (78.08%) and oxygen (20.95%), with trace amounts of argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.04%).”

Table 2. Atmospheric Composition of Earth

Gas Percentage by Volume
Nitrogen (N₂) 78.08%
Oxygen (O₂) 20.95%
Argon (Ar) 0.93%
Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) 0.04%

Table Design

Tables aren’t just cells of rows and columns, they can be designed to help the reader follow and find the most important information. Jon Schwabish published a brilliant guide to better table design (Twitter thread, Article). Let’s see how his data principles were used to create the table below, as outlined in Figure 11.2.

An example of poor table design. The table compares bacterial growth at 20 C and 35 C for cell culture mediums A and B. The text in the Cell culture medium column is right-aligned. The % Bacterial Growth shows percentage values to 3 decimal places.
An example of good table design. The table compares bacterial growth at 20 C and 35 C for cell culture mediums A and B. The header row is shaded in grey to make it stand out. The text in the Cell culture medium column is right-aligned. The % Bacterial Growth figures show 0 decimal places. An outlier result is shown in bold. The data is organized so that all the measurements on Cell culture A are together, and all the measurements on cell culture medium B are together, to simplify the table.
Figure 11.2. Examples of both good and poor table design.

 

  1. Left-align text
  2. Only use borders when necessary
  3. Use the right level of precision
  4. Make your header row stand out
  5. Remove repetitive data and use white space
  6. Highlight important results or outliers
  7. Right-align numbers and always align decimals

 

License

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Science Communication Toolkit Copyright © by Aditi Gupta; Katie Harding; and Sree Gayathri Talluri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.