Presenting your data in an organised, attractive, and meaningful manner is the key to a successful psychology research paper. This data representation is important for events where complex data cannot be easily presented through text only. A pie chart is the best way to visualise statistical data representation in the research document. Moreover, it also showcases the relative proportion of different quantities or groups.
Research papers in psychology with pie chart data representation are the foundational steps for successful psychology degree completion. It goes without saying that representing data in this chart type is tricky. You need to take into account some factors while adding a pie graph to your research document. In this article, we’ll share some useful tips for representing data using a pie chart in your paper. Let’s first explore how to create a pie chart.
How to Create a Pie Chart for a Research Paper?
A pie chart, also known as a circular chart, represents the part-to-whole relationship of your data. This chart depicts that the total amount is divided between different components. Each component showcases a value or percentage with a single slice of pie, and the size of this slice indicates the proportion of the whole value it takes.
Using this chart in a psychology research paper is sometimes challenging for students as they don’t know how to represent each data category in the pie. To overcome this challenge, they can seek help with their research paper from experts to get a winning paper. Besides, they can follow the below steps to learn how to create a pie chart.
Steps to Create a Pie Chart
- Select a Template: There are numerous data visualisation tools available on which you can easily create your pie chart. On these platforms, you will explore various professionally designed templates from where you can jump-start creating your data chart.
- Input Your Data: After selecting a template, you can add your data to the tool to bring it to life. Don’t add too much data to your graph, as it may confuse your readers and leave a bad impression.
- Choose a Colour Theme: A good colour theme is the foundation of a good chart. From this colour coding, your audience will understand what is the meaning of each pie slice and what data it represents.
- Customise Your Chart: The last step is to customise your pie chart. You can add pop-ups, text, and icons to add details about the data. Ensure that all these elements will go with your colour coding.
Example of a Pie Chart for a Psychology Research Paper
As you have learned about creating a pie chart, let’s examine an example to better understand it.
After knowing how to create a pie chart for your psychology research paper, let’s uncover some tips to represent your data using this graph type.
Top 7 Tips to Represent Data Using Pie Charts in Research Paper
A pie chart is an effective way to represent different percentages of the total data points. This type of graph makes a research paper more credible and eye-catching for the audience. Here, we’ll share some tips to represent data using a pie chart. Let’s first have a look at the key points of these tips.
Core Points:
- Choose and organise the data that you should add to your pie chart.
- Select the colour theme of this chart wisely, as it can make or break your overall chart representation.
- Never compare two pie chart data values in your research paper.
- The size and angle of your chart play a key role in impressing your readers.
- Avoid 3D effects, and don’t exceed five sections in your charts.
- Make sure each slice has a different proportion value in your chart.
1. Choose the Right Data
Choosing the right data is the key step when using a pie chart in a psychology research paper. Always use this chart for data that has discrete and mutually exclusive categories such as age, gender, education level, percentage growth, and more. Additionally, never use a pie chart for continuous or overlapping values which have too many sub-categories.
For all types of data patterns, using a pie chart is not a wise decision. For instance, to effectively showcase the height or income distribution data, a histogram can be a good option. Likewise, to demonstrate the relation between two or more variables, you can choose the line chart.
2. Select a Colour Theme and Labels Wisely
The next step is to select the colour theme wisely. Colour coding in a pie chart creates harmony and contrast between different pie slices. Further, these colours help readers to better understand your data patterns. However, try to avoid too many colours in this graphic, as this makes it confusing and cluttered.
We recommend you not use more than six colours in your pie chart and use those shades which are easily distinguishable and consistent with your research paper theme. Additionally, label your data values wisely as these provide more information to your audience. Just avoid placing these labels inside the pie slice as it can obscure the readability.
3. Avoid Comparison of Two Charts
Never compare two pie charts, as this comparison only confuses your readers. Most people are not good at interpreting data from a pie chart. When you refer to a comparison of two values from two different circular charts, things become even worse for your readers. If you want to compare two data values, then it is better to use a stacked bar chart.
However, sometimes, students get stuck in writing their research papers because they don’t know which chart type to use for their data. To avoid this problem, they can buy research papers online from authentic sources and ensure that all the data is presented accurately in their final document.
4. Adjust the Size and Angle
Set the size and angle of your pie chart which depicts the accurate image of your data patterns. These two factors can make or break the data representation in your paper. Moreover, the size of your chart must be according to your available data and the space of your page slide. The too-large or too-small circular figure can compact and distort your data which can mislead your readers.
Similarly, the angle of your pie chart also impacts your audience’s data perception. The correct way to size the angle and size of your chart is to start with the first slice at 12 o’clock and then move clockwise. Also, you can change this direction to emphasise certain data values.
5. Avoid 3D Effect
If you want to represent your data in your psychology paper appealingly, you must avoid the 3D effect and other exploded effects while creating a pie chart. Needless to say, these effects may make your chart seem captivating and fancy, but they can also distort your data.
With the 3D effect, you can get depth and volume to your chart but this also makes some slices larger than others which eventually mislead your readers. Furthermore, exploded effects create a gap between two adjacent slices that make it hard for your audience to compare the proportion of two values. In a nutshell, a simple and flat pie chart is effective for your research paper as compared to a fancy one.
6. Don’t Use More Than Five Sections
This is one of the most important points for your research paper in psychology with pie chart data representation. A pie chart can represent various data points; however, never add too many slices to a single pie. We recommend you add five or fewer sections to your circular graphic as thin slices make the information hard to interpret for readers.
Also, these skinny slices cloud your data instead of revealing it to your audience. Fewer sections in your chart make your percentage data more visible, and it is easy for your readers to comprehend significant data from your data image.
7. Add Different Values with Labels
Adding a pie chart for the larger discrepancies in your percentage data is an effective way to inform your readers about your research results. For instance, if two have two data values with a 15% percentage then it is better to use another chart type. The pie chart is best if you have one value with a 30% proportion, the other 45%, and the remaining values with smaller proportions.
To leave a better impression on your readers, you must use a pie chart wisely in your psychology academic paper. If you need time to learn how to use pie charts and the submission date is near, then it is advisable to ask help from British research paper writers and complete your paper before the deadline.
Conclusion
Research papers are an important academic task while completing your master’s degree. However, writing a research paper in psychology with pie chart data representation is a hard nut to crack. One of the prime challenges of this task is to represent your data using a pie chart. Students can create an effective pie chart by using a data representative tool.
Nonetheless, following some tips when using this chart type in your paper can help you achieve your educational goals. These tips include using the right information, selecting a good colour theme, adjusting size and angles, avoiding 3D effects, and using different values with labels.