Making Effective Graphs in the Social Sciences

Fundamental Principles and Processes

Eric Johann Hiris

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781032738031
  9781032748542
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040641125
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Making Effective Graphs in the Social Sciences provides the knowledge and skills for creating graphs that are easy to interpret accurately.

This includes: (a) knowledge of the different types of graphs and under what circumstances each graph is appropriate, (b) knowledge of what decisions to make when choosing graph components, such as the type of axis or data symbols, and what evidence supports those decisions, and (c) how to use consistency within and across graphs to make your graphs easier to understand. In addition to developing this knowledge base, practical skills are developed for creating effective graphs in Microsoft Excel, IBM SPSS Statistics software ("SPSS"), and R. For Microsoft Excel and SPSS, this includes illustrated and annotated step-by-step instructions. Electronic resources, including full Excel and SPSS appendices and downloadable datasets hosted on the Routledge product page, support the worked examples in the book. Social science researchers and students in data-based social science courses will benefit from the focus on both knowledge and practical skills.

Instructors will find the book self-contained – allowing students to make more effective graphs with minimal instructor intervention.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Endorsements Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgment
• Permissions
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Statistical review
• 3 What does the reader need from a graphic?
• 4 Guiding principles for graphs
• 5 Graphs for describing data
• 6 Graphs for describing correlation or regression
• 7 Graphs for comparing different groups
• 8 Graphs for comparing one group in different conditions
• 9 Graphs for comparing groups or conditions with multiple independent variables
• 10 Final thoughts and advice on graphs (and non-graphs)
• Appendix A: Common editing steps for graphs in Microsoft Excel
• Appendix B: Using SPSS
• Appendix C: Using R
• Index