Study tool: use of units and labeling in effective tables (Effective Tables, Jane E. Miller)

When making an effective table it is important to identify the units being measured at several steps. Rather than just identifying the unit of analysis like we have done previously when analyzing research studies, when making tables it is necessary to identify and label several different units and their specific measurement within one graph.

in a table you must identify these for all variables:

-units of measurement

-level of aggregation

-system of measurement

Than appropriate place to identify these variables/units is

1. in the title

2. row labels

3. column headings

Examples:

Title: number and type of fast food restaurants by every 100 square miles, California, 2010

Row labels: fast food restaurants (concept), Burger King, McDonald's, Taco Bell (attributes)

Column headings: area 1, area 2, area 3, area 4, total.

Here we have identified that the unit of analysis is institutions (fast food restaurants), the measure is by every 100 square miles, and that the concept of fast food restaurants that we are conceptualizing for our purposes includes, Burger King, Taco Bell, and McDonald's.