General Rules of Table & Graph Construction
1. Number your tables/graphs if more than one (e.g., Table 1, Figure 2)
2. Give your table or graph a title that answers the questions WHAT is in the table or graph? WHO are the respondents? WHEN was the data collected?
Examples: Table 1: Frequency and Percentage Distributions for Attitudes about Homosexuality for Americans 18 Years and Over in 2002
Figure 2: Pie Graph of Educational Attainment for American Adults in 2006
3. Include the SOURCE of your data at the bottom of the table or graph (e.g., Source: General Social Survey, National Opinion Research Corporation)
4. Make sure that the rows and columns of your table or the vertical and horizontal axes of your graph are labeled.
5. Make sure that the unites in the table or graph are clear. Are they N's (frequencies or counts) or %'s (percentages) or X-bars (means) or st. devs. (standard deviations) or what?
6. Make sure that there is a total row or column.
7. Use footnotes for clarity. Often footnotes are used to describe recoding. Remember that the AIM is to ensure that someone could replicate your work from the information you provide.
HERE IS A UNIVARIATE TABLE
Table 1: Frequency and Percentage Distributions of Attitudes about CMU Faculty among SOC 599 Students, Spring, 3006
| Number | Percentage | |
| Excellent | 10 | 25 |
| Good | 20 | 50 |
| Fair | 5 | 12.5 |
| Poor | 5 | 12.5 |
| TOTAL | 40 | 100 |
SOURCE: Imaginary Data from Mary Senter's head.
HERE ARE BIVARIATE AND TRIVARIATE TABLES
Table 2: Crosstabulation of Prejudice by Education among
Made-Up People in Made-Up Town in 1994
| EDUCATION* | ||
| PREJUDICE LEVEL** | Low Education | High Education |
| Low Prejudice | 50% | 70% |
| High Prejudice | 50% | 30% |
| TOTAL | 100% | 100% |
| (500) | (500) | |
* Low Education = 0 - 12 years of schooling High Education = 13 or more
years of schooling
** Low Prejudice = "Agree" that "all people are equal"
High Prejudice = "Disagree" that "all people are equal"
Source: Mary Senter's Head, August 26, 1996
Table 3: Crosstabulation of Prejudice by Education and Intergroup
Contact among Made-Up People in Made-Up Town in 1994
| CONTACT LEVEL*** | ||||
| Low Contact | High Contact | |||
| EDUCATION* | EDUCATION | |||
| Low Education | High Education | Low Education | High Education | |
| PREJUDICE** LEVEL |
||||
| Low Prejudice | 30% | 30% | 80% | 80% |
| High Prejudice | 70% | 70% | 20% | 20% |
| TOTAL | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| (300) | (100) | (200) | (400) |
* Low Education = 0 - 12 years of schooling High Education = 13 or more
years of schooling
** Low Prejudice = "Agree" that "all people are equal"
High Prejudice = "Disagree" that "all people are equal"
*** Low Contact = No friends from ethnic group other than R's own High
Contact = One or more friend from ethnic group other than R's own
Source: Mary Senter's Head, August 26, 1996