Apr 18, 2023The most common way to report descriptive statistics in APA style is to use mean and standard deviation for continuous variables that are
In text, you should use parentheses to separate the descriptive statistics from the rest of the sentence and report them in the same order as they appear in the table or figure. For example, you can write: "The mean age of the participants was 23.5 years (SD = 4.2)".
The exact descriptive statistics that you report depends on the types of data in your study. Categorical variables can be reported using proportions, while quantitative data can be reported using means and standard deviations. For a large set of numbers, a table is the most effective presentation format.
Do not give references for
statistics unless the statistic is uncommon, used unconventionally, or is the focus of the article Do not give formulas for common
statistics (i.e. mean, t test) Do not repeat
descriptive statistics in the text if they’re represented in a table or figure
Reporting Statistics APA Style
- 1. General tips for Reporting Statistics APA Style Use readable spacing, placing a space after commas, variables and mathematical symbols. For example: Correct: r (55) = .49, p < .001 ...
Descriptive statistics summarize your data for the reader. Present descriptive statistics for each primary, secondary, and subgroup analysis. Don’t provide formulas or citations for commonly used statistics (e.g., standard deviation) – but do provide them for new or rare equations.Generally, when writing descriptive statistics, you want to present at least one form of
central tendency (or average), that is, either the mean, median, or mode. In addition, you should present one form of variability, usually the standard deviation. Cite your source automatically in MLA or APA format
