- Author Committee
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1 Preparing an Article for Publication
- 1 Types of Articles
- 2 Manuscript Preparation
- 3 References
- 4 Visual Presentation of Data
- 4.1 Tables
- 4.2 Figures
- 4.3 Nontabular Material
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Additional Reading and General Reference
- 5 Ethical and Legal Considerations
- 6 Editorial Assessment and Processing
- Section 2 Style
- 7 Grammar
- 8 Punctuation
- 9 Plurals
- 10 Capitalization
- 11 Correct and Preferred Usage
- 12 Non-English Words, Phrases, and Accent Marks
- 13 Medical Indexes
- Section 3 Terminology
- 14 Abbreviations
- 15 Nomenclature
- 16 Eponyms
- 17 Greek Letters
- Section 4 Measurement and Quantitation
- 18 Units of Measure
- 19 Numbers and Percentages
- 20 Study Design and Statistics
- 21 Mathematical Composition
- Section 5 Technical Information
- 22 Typography
- 23 Manuscript Editing and Proofreading
- 24 Glossary of Publishing Terms
- 25 Resources
- Index
(p. 81) Visual Presentation of Data
- Chapter:
- (p. 81) Visual Presentation of Data
- Author(s):
Stacy Christiansen
- DOI:
- 10.1093/jama/9780195176339.003.0004
Tables and figures demonstrate relationships among data and other types of information. A well-structured table is perhaps the most efficient way to convey a large amount of data in a scientific manuscript. As text, the same information may take considerably more space; if presented in a figure, key details and precise values may be less apparent. Text may be preferred if the information can be presented concisely (see Box). For qualitative information, text should be used if the relationships among data are simple and data are few, whereas a figure should be used if the relationships are complex. For quantitative information, a table should be used when the display of exact values is important, whereas a figure (eg, a line graph) should be used to demonstrate patterns or trends. Tables also are often preferable to graphics for small data sets and are preferred when data presentation requires many specific comparisons...
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- Author Committee
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1 Preparing an Article for Publication
- 1 Types of Articles
- 2 Manuscript Preparation
- 3 References
- 4 Visual Presentation of Data
- 4.1 Tables
- 4.2 Figures
- 4.3 Nontabular Material
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Additional Reading and General Reference
- 5 Ethical and Legal Considerations
- 6 Editorial Assessment and Processing
- Section 2 Style
- 7 Grammar
- 8 Punctuation
- 9 Plurals
- 10 Capitalization
- 11 Correct and Preferred Usage
- 12 Non-English Words, Phrases, and Accent Marks
- 13 Medical Indexes
- Section 3 Terminology
- 14 Abbreviations
- 15 Nomenclature
- 16 Eponyms
- 17 Greek Letters
- Section 4 Measurement and Quantitation
- 18 Units of Measure
- 19 Numbers and Percentages
- 20 Study Design and Statistics
- 21 Mathematical Composition
- Section 5 Technical Information
- 22 Typography
- 23 Manuscript Editing and Proofreading
- 24 Glossary of Publishing Terms
- 25 Resources
- Index