A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

Tables
Tables and figures
Style

In many situations, you may choose to present data in a table. Chapter 8 describes criteria for using tables as well as general design principles for them. This section covers most of the issues you are likely to encounter in their preparation. Tables 26.1—26.3 provide examples of the principles discussed here.

Tables vary widely in the complexity of their content and therefore in their structure, but consistency both within and across tables is essential to ensure that readers will understand your data.

Use arabic numerals for all numerical data in tables unless otherwise noted. To save space, you can use abbreviations and symbols more freely than you can in text, but use them sparingly and consistently. If standard abbreviations do not exist, create your own and explain them either in a footnote to the table (see 26.2.7) or, if there are many, in a list of abbreviations in your paper’s front matter (see A.2.1).

26.2.1 Table Structure

A table has elements analogous to horizontal and vertical axes on a graph. On the horizontal axis along the top are column heads. On the vertical axis along the left are headings that constitute what is called the stub column.

This grid of columns (vertical) and rows (horizontal) in a table usually correlates two sets of variables called independent and dependent. The independent variables are traditionally defined on the left, in the stub column. The dependent variables are traditionally defined in the column heads. If you include the same set of variables in two or more tables in your paper, be consistent: put them in the same place in each table, as column heads or in the stub.

The data, which may be words, numbers, or both (see table 26.1), are entered in the cells below the column heads and to the right of the stub column.

Table 26.1. Selected churches in Four Corners, Boston

26.2.2 Table Numbers and Titles

In general, every table should have a number and a title. Place these items flush left on the line above the table, with the word Table (capitalized, in roman type), followed by the table number (in arabic numerals), followed by a period. After a space, give the title without a terminal period. Capitalize the title sentence-style (see 22.3.1). If a title runs onto more than one line, the runovers should be flush left, single-spaced.

Table 13. Yen-dollar ratios in Japanese exports, 1995—2005

A simple tabulation that can be introduced clearly in the text, such as a simple two-column list, need not be numbered or titled.

Chicago’s population grew exponentially in its first century:

26.2.2.1 TABLE NUMBERS. Number tables separately from figures, in the order in which you mention them in the text. If you have only a few tables, number them consecutively throughout the paper, even across chapters. If you have many tables and many chapters, use double numeration: that is, the chapter number followed by a period followed by the table number, as in “Table 12.4.”

When you refer to a table in the text, specify the table number (“in table 3”) rather than its location (“below”) because you may end up moving the table while editing or formatting the paper. Do not capitalize the word table in text references to tables.

26.2.2.2 TABLE TITLES. Keep table titles short but descriptive enough to indicate the specific nature of the data and to differentiate tables from one another. For discussion of good titling practices, see 8.3.1. Table titles may be presented in a smaller font than the rest of your text.

26.2.3 Rules

Rules (lines) separate different types of data and text. Too many rules create a confusing image, so use them sparingly and consistently (see also 8.3.2).

✵ ▪ Insert full-width horizontal rules to separate the table’s title from the column heads (see 26.2.4), the column heads from the body of the table, and the body of the table from footnotes. A rule above a row of totals is traditional but not essential (see table 26.2). Unnumbered tables run into the text can usually be set with no rules, as long as any column heads are set off typographically.

✵ ▪ Use partial-width horizontal rules to indicate which column heads and columns are governed by special types of heads, if you use them (see 26.2.4, table 26.2).

✵ ▪ Leave enough space between data cells to avoid the need for additional rules. Do not use vertical rules to enclose the table in a box. But if you need to double up a long and narrow table (see 26.1.2), use a vertical rule to separate the two halves.

✵ ▪ Use caution in employing shading or color to convey meaning (see 8.3.2). Even if you print the paper on a color printer or submit it as a PDF, it may be printed or copied later in black and white. If you use shading, make sure it does not obscure the text of the table, and do not use multiple shades, which might not reproduce distinctly.

Table 26.2. Election results in Gotefrith Province, 1950—60

26.2.4 Column Heads

A table must have at least two columns, each with a head or heading at the top that names the data in the column below.

✵ ▪ When possible, use noun phrases for column heads. Keep them short to avoid an excessively wide table or heads that take up too many lines.

✵ ▪ Capitalize column heads sentence-style (see 22.3.1).

✵ ▪ Align the stub head flush left (see 26.2.5); column heads can be set flush left or centered over the widest entry in the column below. Align the bottom of all heads horizontally.

You may need to include special types of heads in addition to the column heads. Such a head may apply to two or more columns of data. Center the head over the relevant columns with a partial-width horizontal rule beneath (and, if necessary, above) it. Table 26.2 shows heads both above the main column heads (“1950,” “1956,” and “1960”) and below them (“Provincial Assembly” and “National Assembly”).

Heads may have explanatory tags to clarify or to indicate the unit of measure for data in the column below. Enclose such tags in parentheses. You may use abbreviations and symbols (mpg, km, lb., %, $M, and so on), but be consistent within and among your tables.

✵ Responses (%)

✵ Pesos (millions)

26.2.5 The Stub

The leftmost column of a table, called the stub, lists the categories of data in each row.

✵ ▪ Include a column head for the stub whenever possible, even if it is generic (“Typical Characteristic” or “Variable”). Omit the head only if it would merely repeat the table title or if the categories in the stub are too diverse for a single head.

✵ ▪ Make stub entries nouns or noun phrases whenever possible, and keep them consistent in form: “Books,” “Journal articles,” “Manuscripts,” rather than “Books,” “Articles published in journals,” “Manuscripts.” Use the same word for the same item in all of your tables (for example, if you use “Former USSR” in one table, do not use “Former Soviet Union” in another).

✵ ▪ Capitalize all stub entries sentence-style (see 22.3.1), with no terminal periods.

✵ ▪ Set the stub head and entries flush left; indent any runover lines, unless you’ve left enough space between rows to distinguish entries from each other.

✵ ▪ To show the sum of the numbers in a column, include an indented stub entry titled Total (see table 26.2).

If the stub column includes subentries as well as main entries (see table 26.3), distinguish them through indentation, italics, or both. Follow the same principles listed above for main entries for capitalization and so forth.

Table 26.3. Unemployment rates for working-age New Yorkers, 2000

26.2.6 The Body of a Table

The body of a table consists of cells containing your data, which may be words, numbers, or both (see table 26.1).

If the data are numerical and all values in a column or in the entire table are in thousands or millions, omit the rightmost zeros and note the unit in an explanatory tag in the relevant column head (see 26.2.4), in the table title (26.2.2), or in a footnote (26.2.7). Indicate an empty cell with three spaced periods (ellipsis dots), centered as in table 26.3.

26.2.6.1 HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT. Align the data in each row with the stub entry for that row.

✵ ▪ If the stub entry runs over onto two or more lines but the related data does not, align the row with the bottom line of the stub entry.

✵ ▪ If both the stub entry and the data in the same row run over onto two or more lines, align the row with the top line of the stub entry.

✵ ▪ If necessary, insert leaders (lines of periods, or dots) to lead the reader’s eye from the stub to the data in the first column. (For an example of leaders in a similar context, see fig. A.5.)

26.2.6.2 VERTICAL ALIGNMENT. Align a column of numbers vertically on their real or implied decimal points, so that readers can compare the values in the column. If all numerical values in a column have a zero before a decimal point, you may omit the zeros (see fig. A.13).

Align dollar signs, percent signs, degrees, and so on. But if they occur in every cell in the column, delete them from the cells and give the unit as a tag in the column head (see 26.2.4, table 26.2, and fig. A.13).

If the data consist of words, either center each column under the column head or, especially if the data consist of longer items or items that include runovers, align each column flush left.

26.2.7 Footnotes

If a table has footnotes, position them flush left, single-spaced. Leave a blank line between the bottom rule of the table and the first note, and also between notes. Footnotes may be presented in a smaller font than the rest of the text; consult your local guidelines.

Footnotes for tables can be of four kinds: (1) source lines (discussed in 26.1.3), (2) general footnotes that apply to the whole table, (3) footnotes that apply to specific parts of the table, and (4) notes on levels of statistical significance. If you have more than one kind of note, put them in that order.

26.2.7.1 GENERAL NOTES. General notes apply to the entire table. They define abbreviations, expand on the table title, specify how data were collected or derived, indicate rounding of values, and so on. Gather all such remarks into a single note. Do not put a note number (or other symbol) anywhere in the table or the table title, or with the note itself. Simply begin the note with the word Note (capitalized, in italics, followed by a colon). See also table 26.3.

Note: Since not all data were available, there is disparity in the totals.

SPECIFIC NOTES. Notes to explain specific items in a table can be attached to any part of the table except the table number or title. Designate such notes with lowercase superscript letters rather than numbers, both within the table and in the note itself. Do not begin the note with the word note but with the same superscript letter, with no period or colon following.

^aTotal excludes trade and labor employees.

If you include more than one such note in a table (as in table 26.2), use letters in sequential order, beginning at the upper left of the table, running left to right and then downward, row by row. If a note applies to two or more items in the table, use the same letter for each item; if it applies to all items in a column or row, put the letter in the relevant column head or stub entry.

26.2.7.3 NOTES ON STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. If you include notes on the statistical significance of your data (also called probability notes), and if the significance levels are standard, designate notes with asterisks, both within the table and in the note itself. Use a single asterisk for the lowest level of probability, two for the next higher, and three for the level after that. If, however, you are noting significance levels other than standard ones, use superscript letters instead. Because these footnotes are short and they share a single purpose, you may combine them on the same line, spaced, without intervening punctuation. The letter p (for probability, no period after it) should be lowercase and italic. Omit zeros before decimal points (see 23.1.3).

✵ *p < .05

✵ **p < .01

✵ ***p < .001