2. Introduction to Tabular Data
What is Tabular Data?
Tabular data refers to data that is presented in columns or rows. Tabular data is typical to most research areas. Rows typically represent observations while columns typically represent measured variables. Variables refer to quantitative or qualitative properties assessed for each observation (Model for Tabular Data and Metadata on the Web, 2015).
Why is Tabular Data Important?
Tabular data allows data to be organized for further analysis, allows large amounts of raw data to be sorted and reorganized in an aggregated format, and allows the inclusion of only the most important or relevant data. It also facilitates a connection between the text and the exact numbers in your results, so that you don’t have to describe all the specific numerical values in your report.
On the other hand, you should never put data in a table if you can describe it efficiently in one or two sentences. In summary, tabular presentation lets you place your results in an organized display of rows and columns that enable you to group your data by different classifications so that you can make comparisons and better understand your data (Graphing -Designing Tables, 2004).