How to Present Numerical Data in Scientific Text
A scientific paper should be objective although it is a struggle in part as there are various subjective terms. For instance, “red” colour can be “pink” for one, and “hot” can be “warm” for another. However, numbers have the same meaning to most people, therefore, they are well suited for scientific text. Here are the ways to present numerical data in the scientific text. You can incorporate numerical data in three ways: inserting it into the text body, tabular representation and graphical representation. The choice of methods entirely depends upon information and its complexity. The best method would be one that helps readers understand your arguments without struggling with interpreting data. Note that a numerical presentation describes data in digits, so you do not need to explain in words. When to incorporate numbers in data When there is a comparison between two values, it is better to put numerical data in the textual body. For instance, 12% of European 9 to 16-years-old children get upset by harmful things on the internet. However, 9% of children do not get bothered by harmful things. A numerical comparison between three values or more often causes bewilderment among readers if you include it in the text. Therefore, a tabular representation will be a...