Reading tables (and charts)

Vera FrithNumeracy Centre

UCT

POL2038F Comparative Politics

“Modernization”, Przeworski pg 162

READING TABLES

Why do texts often contain tables?

A compact and systematic way of presenting large amount of information in a small space

Often contain the evidence to substantiate arguments

Must be read as an integral part of the text.

Statements in the text and information in the tables should correspond – need to refer to the tables while reading text.

“Modernization”, Przeworski pg 173

What is the reference in the text to this table?

Examine the TITLE

Examine the COLUMN HEADINGS

What does the FOOTNOTE tell us?

“Modernization”, Przeworski pg 173

What does the FOOTNOTE tell us?

Examine the ROW HEADINGS

What are the UNITS of measurement?

TIME: years PER CAPITA INCOME: 1985 PPP USD

Are there RELATIONSHIPS/DIFFERENCES between data in different parts of the table?

Now make sense of the NUMBERS

The present democracy in Sweden was established in 1918 and the level of income per capita at that time was $1919.

The level of income per capita in Finland when it suffered a reversal was $1974

Now go back to the text to see what it says about the table

SUMMARY: How to approach a table in a text:

What does the text say about the table?

Examine the title

Examine the row and column headings

Examine the footnotes

Units of measurement

Relationships within the table (between rows, between columns etc.)

Make sense of the numbers

Are there any obvious trends?

What does the text say about the table? Do you agree?

We now follow this procedure for another table

From (Vula reading)

Total income of countryTotal population

Bigger

Smaller

Bigger

Smaller

Less democratic

More democratic

More democratic - wealthier

Total populationTotal number of doctors

(divided by 1000)

In a wealthy country do we expect these numbers to be bigger or smaller?

Smaller

Bigger

Smaller

Bigger

More democratic - wealthier

telephones X 1000population

In a wealthy country do we expect these numbers to be bigger or smaller?

Bigger

Smaller

Bigger

Smaller

More democratic - wealthier

FOR students doing augmented tutorials:The tutorial next week will focus on understanding Table 1 and the text that relates to it in the reading “Modernization” 1997 by Przeworski and Limongi.”

Suggestion for all students: practice techniques covered today on this table

“Modernization”, Przeworski pg 157

READING GRAPHS AND CHARTS

Why do texts often contain graphs (or charts)?

A compact and systematic way of presenting large amount of information in a small space and reveal relationships

Often contain the evidence to substantiate arguments

Must be read as an integral part of the text.

Statements in the text and information in the graphs should correspond – need to refer to the graphs while reading text.

Examine the TITLE

Examine the Horizontal axis

Examine the Vertical axis

What does a point on this chart represent?

44% of countries with income of $4000/cap are democratic

We use this as an estimate for the probability that any country with that income will be democratic

What do all these points tell us?

Firstly:As the income rises so does the probability of democracy

LINE OF BEST FIT: a line that is closest to all the points

Secondly:The points lie close to the line (there is only a little scatter) So this is a STRONG RELATIONSHIP

What would a WEAK RELATIONSHIP look like?