11.16.2006

Graphs > tables

Kastellec, Jonathan and Eduardo Leoni. 2006. "Using Graphs Instead of Tables to Improve the Presentation of Empirical Results in Political Science"
"When political scientists present empirical results, they are much more likely to use tables rather than graphs, despite the fact that the latter greatly increases the clarity of presentation and makes it easier for a reader or listener to draw clear and correct inferences. ... We argue the extra work required in producing graphs is rewarded by greatly enhanced presentation and communication of empirical results. We illustrate their benefits by turning several published tables into graphs, including tables that present descriptive data and regression results. ... A move away from tables and towards graphs would increase the quality of the discipline's communicative output and make empirical findings more accessible to every type of audience."
(Via POLMETH)

Addendum: I read this on the flight (I'm in Sedona for Thanksgiving), and was quite impressed. The light didn't really come on until about page 17 - I was skeptical about the idea of reporting confidence intervals rather than "mere" significance - but now I'm pretty sure they're right.

Graphs can tells us far more than tables.

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