PRESENTATION OF TABLES AND FIGURES

PRESENTATION OF TABLES AND FIGURES

A Table refers to any data which is presented in orderly rows across and/or down the page, often enclosed within borders.

A Figure refers to any other form of presentation such as a bar or pie chart, a graph, a diagram, a map, a photograph, a line drawing or a sample of material.

Advantages of Using Tables and Figures

	Make a greater impact than just words.
	Enable relationships to be seen easily.
	Condense detailed information and thus avoid the necessity for complex and repetitive sentences.
	Act as a summary of detailed information.
	Act as a welcome relief from pages and pages of text.

Suggestions for Effective Presentation of Tables and Figures

Refer to the table or figure BEFORE it appears.

e.g.
See Table 1 below.

Calculations are shown in Figure 2.
(Table 3.)

Full details are given in fig. 4.
… is shown in Table 4.

Decide on the most appropriate size, according to the amount of information to be included.

	Keep your table or figure relatively simple. Keep such additions as lines, words, labels and colours to a minimum.
	Use a key if complex information needs to be presented.
	Consider the use of white space so as to display the information most effectively on the page.
	Place the table or figure on the same page as your discussion about it; whenever possible.
	Present the table or figure in the normal ‘portrait’ orientation, rather than 'landscape': it can be quite annoying to have to turn the report sideways in order to read the data.

Portrait

Landscape

	Integrate the table or figure into your text by referring to particularly significant results.
	Number the tables and figures consecutively throughout the report by using Arabic numbers. e.g. Table 1, Figure 1.

The abbreviations Fig. and fig. are also acceptable.

Avoid using A,B,C or Roman numbers i, ii, iii as labels because such usage is quite clumsy.

	Give each table and figure a title so as to immediately tell your reader what it is showing.
	Note that the recommended presentation of tables and figures is as follows:

the table number and title should be placed ABOVE the table
the figure number and title should be placed BELOW the figure

Add 'Notes' below the table or figure to explain the content of a particular cell of a table or part of the figure.

Click here to see two samples from students' FYPs that show the correct placement of table and figure titles plus an example of the addition of 'Notes' to a table.