The presentation of data means exhibition of data in such a

clear and attractive manner that these are easily understood

and analyzed. There are many forms of presentation of data of
which the following three are well known:
i. Textual or Descriptive Presentation.
ii. Tabular Presentation.
iii. Diagrammatic Presentation.
 Textual Presentation
In textual presentation, data are a part of the text of study or a part of the description of the
subject matter of study. Such a presentation is also called descriptive presentation of
data. This is the most common form of data presentation when the quantity of data is
not very large .
Example 1.
In a strike call given by the trade unions of shoe making industry in the city of Delhi,50%of
the workers reported for the duty, and only 2 out of the 20 industries in the city were
totally closed.
Example 2.
Surveys conducted by a Non-Government Organisation reveal that , in the state of Punjab
,area under pulses has tended to shrink by 40% while the area under rice and wheat has
tended to expand by20% between the years 2014-2015.
Tabular Presentation
In the words of Neiswanger, ”A statistical table is a systematic organisation of data in
columns and rows .” Vertical dissections of table (||)are known as columns and
horizontal dissections (=) are known as rows.
 Table Number
Title

( ) Head Notes
Stub Heading Column Heading or caption with Sub heads

Cell Cell Cell

Body of
the
Table or
Row
Items of
Heading or
the
stub- titles
Table or
of the rows
Cells of
of the table
the
Table

Footnote:
Source:
Components Of A Table
Following are the principles of components of a table:
(1) Table Number: First of all, a table must be numbered. Different tables must have different
numbers , e.g., 1,2,3….,etc. These numbers must be in the same order as the tables.
(2) Title: A table must have a title. Title must be written in bold letters. It should attract the
attention of the readers. The title must be simple, clear and sort. A good title must
reveal: (i)the problem under consideration,(ii)the time period of the study,(iii)the place
of the study, and (iv) the nature of classification of data. A good title is short but
complete in all respects.
(3) Head Note: If the title of the table dose not give complete information, it is supplemented
with a head note. Head note completes the information in the title of the table. Thus,
units of the data are generally expressed in the form of lakhs, tonnes, etc. and preferably
in brackets as a head-note.
(4) Stubs: Stubs are titles of the rows of a table. These titles indicate information contained in
the row of the table.
 Components Of A Table
(5) Caption: Caption is the title given to the columns of a table. A caption indicates information
contained in the columns of the table . A caption may have sub-heads when information
contained in the columns is divided in more than one class. For example, a caption of
‘Students’ may have boys and girls as sub heads.

(6) Body or field: Body of a table means sum total of the items in the table. Thus, body is the most
important part of a table. It indicates values of the various items in the table. Each item in the
body is called ‘cell’.

(7) Footnotes: Footnotes are given for classification of the reader. These are generally given when
information in the table need to be supplemented.

(8) Source: When tables are based on secondary data, source of the data is to be given. Source of the
data is specified below the footnote. It should give: name of the publication and publisher,
year of publication, reference ,page number, etc.
 GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TABLE
Construction of a table depends upon the objective of study. It also depends upon the wisdom of
the statistician. There are no hard and fast rules for the construction of a table. However ,some
important guidelines should be kept in mind. These guidelines are features of a good table.
These are as under:

(1) Title as compatible with the objective of the study: Title of a table must be provided at the top
center of the table and it must be compatible with the objective of the study.
(2) Comparison: It should be kept in mind that items(cells) which are to be compared with each
other are placed in columns or rows close to each other . This facilitates comparison.
(3) Special Emphasis: Some items in the table may need special emphasis. Such items should be
placed in the head rows (top above)or head columns (extreme left). Moreover, such items
should be presented in bold figures.
(4) Idol Size: Table must be of an ideal size. To determine a ideal size of a table, a rough draft or
sketch must be drawn columns should be drawn for presentation of the data.
(5) Stubs: If rows are very long, stubs may be given at the right hand side of the table also.
(6) Use of Zero: Zero should be used only to indicate the quantity of a variable. It should not be used to
indicate the non-availability of data. If the data are not available, it should be indicated by ‘n.a.’ or (-)
hyphen sign.
(7) Headings: Headings should generally be written in the singular form. For example, in the column
indicating goods, the word ‘goods’ should be used.
(8) Abbreviations: Use of abbreviation should be avoided in the headings or sub-headings of the table.
Short forms of the words such as Govt., m.p. (monetary policy)etc. should not be used . Also such
signs as “(ditto)” should not be used in the body of the table.
(9) Footnote: Footnote should be given only if needed. However, if footnote is to be given, it must bear
some asterisk mark(*) corresponding to the concerned item.
(10) Units: Units used must be specified above the columns. If figures are very large, units may be noted
in the short form as ‘000’ tonnes.
(11) Total: In the table, sub-totals of the items must be given at the end of each row. Grand total of the
items must also be noted.
(12) Percentage and Ratio: Percentage figures should be provided in the table, if possible. This makes the
data more informative.
(13) Extent of Approximation: If some approximate figures have been used in the table, the extent of
approximation must be noted. This may be indicated at the top of the table as a part of head note or
at the foot of the table as a footnote.
(14) Source of Data: Source of data must be noted at the foot of the table. It is generally
noted next to the footnote.
(15) Size of Columns: Size of the columns must be uniform and symmetrical.
(16) Ruling of Columns: Columns may be divided into different sections according to
similarities of the data.
(17) Simple, Economical and Attractive: A table must be simple, attractive and economical in
space.
KINDS
OF Double or Two-way
Table
TABLE
Treble Table

Manifold Table
 Tables According to Purpose
According to Purpose, there are two kinds of tables:
(1) General purpose Table: General purpose table is that table which is of general use. It dose not serve any
specific purpose or specific problem under consideration. Such tables are just ‘data bank’ for the use of
researchers for their various studies. These tables are generally attached to some official reports, like
Census Reports of India. These are also called Reference Tables.
(2) Specific purpose Table: Specific purpose table is that table which is prepared with some specific purpose
in mind. Generally these are small tables limited to the problem under consideration. In these tables data
are presented in the form of result of the analysis. That is why these tables are also called Summary tables.

Tables According to Originality

On the bases of originality, tables are of two kinds:
(1) Original Table: An original table is that in which data are presented in the same form and manner in which
they are collected.
(2) Derived Table: A derived table is that in which data are not presented in the form or manner in which these
are collected. Instead the data are first converted into ratios or % and then presented.
Tables According to Construction
According to construction, tables are of two kinds:
(1) Simple or One –way Table: A Simple table is that which shows only one characteristics of the data.
Table below is an example of a simple table. It shows number of students in a college:

Class No. of students

XI 200
B.A(I) 100
B.A(II) 80
B.A(III) 60

Total 440
(2)Complex Table: A complex table is one which shows more than one characteristics of the data. On the
basis of the characteristics shown, these tables may be further classified as:
(a) Double or Two-way Table: A two –way table is that which shows two characteristics of the data . For
example, Table showing the number of students in different classes according to their sex, is a two-
way table:

Class No. of Students Total

BOYS GIRLS

XI 160 40 200
B.A.(I) 40 60 100
B.A.(II) 60 20 80
B.A.(III) 50 10 60

Total 310 130 440

(b) Treble Table: A treble table is that which shows three characteristics of the data. For example, Table
shown below number of students in a college according to class and habitation.

Class Boys Girls Total

Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total

XI 50 110 160 10 30 40 60 140 200

B.A.(I) 10 30 40 15 45 60 25 75 100

B.A.(II) 15 45 60 5 15 20 20 60 80

B.A.(III) 10 40 50 5 5 10 15 45 60

Total 85 225 310 35 95 130 120 320 440

 © Mani fold Table: A manifold table is the one which shows more than three characteristics of the data.
For example table shown below :m number of students in college according to their sex, class,
habitation and marital status:

Class Boys Girls Total

Rural Urban Rural Urban
Married Unmarried Married Unmarried Married Unmarried Married Unmarried

XI 5 55 10 90 2 8 5 25 200

B.A.(I) 5 15 15 35 4 4 4 18 100

B.A.(II) 5 10 15 30 2 3 5 10 80

B.A.(III) 5 5 20 20 3 2 2 3 60

Total 20 85 60 175 11 17 16 56 440