ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how to reorganize a table to highlight the main features of interest, and presents the introduction to the tabular summary to consider how the presentation of a table can be manipulated to reveal the information content to best effect. Even a table of results can be frightening, confusing or boring to many people unless a summary interpretation of the content is made available. Clearly a certain amount of skill is involved in the discussion of uncertainties and assumptions in sufficient to demonstrate objectivity and maintain a clear and convincing line of argument. The chapter provides some hints on how to comment on tables such as might be found in government summary publications. The suggestion is to round the figures to two effective digits since psychologists have shown that the short-term memory need for scanning tables is limited to two digits. The mental subtractions and divisions necessary for examining the content of a table are thereby facilitated.
