Using tables
Tables can be used to present numerical data.
They can be effective when showing how one type of information varies in different contexts, eg different countries, different years, different schools etc.
This table shows obesity rates in different countries.
Tables can also be effective when there is a small amount of data to show or if you wish to draw attention to a precise value.
This table shows the difference in unemployment rates in the UK between 2006 and 2016.
It can be seen in the table, that despite a ten year gap, the unemployment rate has only changed by 0.1 per cent.
You can also use relevant information from a large table or graph to create a smaller table or a graph which shows the data related to your topic.
This is a graph that shows the rates of youth unemployment in European countries.
You could take out the key information from this graph and create a table to demonstrate this more clearly. Here the table has been created to show the country with the lowest rate and highest rate in comparison with the UK.
Alternatively, this data could be put into a smaller or simpler graph to highlight the differences.
It can now be seen more easily that Luxembourg has a very low youth unemployment rate, Greece has a very high youth unemployment rate and the UK falls between these two countries.
