Type
of Data |
Presentation
Format |
Purpose/Best
Used When |
Considerations |
Sample
Presentation |
| Qualitative |
|
Best for hearing the voice of the
target population |
Verbal skills of the target population
and their willingness to speak |
|
| |
Summarizing Text by Evaluator |
Good for describing a general theme
that was found |
Are there quotes available to support
the theme? |
“The teens cited numerous challenges
to their commitment to nonsmoking including living
in homes that were not smoke-free, patronizing restaurants
that permit smoking, socializing with friends who
allow smoking in their homes and going away to college.”
For more information, see the report: Results
of the 2002 Wisconsin Implementation Study of the
Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) Program. |
| |
Respondent Quote |
Best used as an example of a summary
theme. |
Remove or disguise any names. Quote
only the parts that are relevant to the theme being
discussed. |
“Students also agreed that the
behavior of parents and peers influence their smoking
behaviors. For example, a student commented about
how he began smoking: ‘I was bored and stressed
out--my Dad smokes and hey; I tried it. Three years
later, I am still going strong.’ Another student
stated, ‘If they [parents] smoked, the more
likely you would smoke.’ A male student said,
‘[I] never smoked cigarettes until I lived
with a girl last year ... quit [smoking] when I
stopped living with her.’” For more
information, see the American
Journal of Health Studies article, A qualitative
assessment of college students' perceptions of health
behaviors. |
| Quantitative |
|
Best for reaching large numbers of
people and standardizing responses |
Requires an interviewer or reading
skills. |
|
| |
Text |
Good for conveying counts or other
simple information. |
• No more than 3-4 numbers should
be presented in a sentence.
• Numbers
under 10 should be words, 10 or over should be numerals |
“With regard to gender, 48%
of the population were female and 52% male.” |
| |
Tables |
• Good for frequency distribution
and for tabulation where two categorical variables
are presented in relationship
• The simplest—one
variable with counts
• Helpful to add
percentages (down columns or across rows) or cumulative
percentage
• Show the sample size (n=number
of people) |
• Some people have difficulty
understanding tables. The more variables and numbers
it includes, the more confusing a table is to the
audience.
• Should be self-explanatory:
title, columns, and rows labeled
• Generally
better than graphs when there are a lot of categories
or numbers being presentedfor numeric info |
Frequency
Table
Cross
Tabulation Table
Stratified
Table |
| |
Graphs |
• Can present more than one
variable.
• A small table is better than
a large graph
• Common types of graphs:
- Arithmetic line graphs
- Scatter
diagram |
Better than tables for:
•
Showing trends
• Making broad comparisons
• Showing relationships |
Arithmetic
line graphs Scatter
diagram |
| |
Charts |
• Best for lay audiences
• Especially Good for conveying simple concepts
• Good for showing differences between
groups can be used to present more than one variable.
Common types of charts:
• Pie charts
• Pictographs
• Bar charts (single,
grouped, stacked)
• Histograms
|
Better than tables for:
•
Showing trends
• Making broad comparisons
• Showing relationships |
Pie
chart
Pictograph
Bar
chart |
