Many academic subjects expect students to present statistical data in their written work. It is usually better to support argument with precise numbers rather than vague statements:
35% of French companies employing less than 100 people were forced to reduce their workforce.
Numbers 1 - 10 are normally written as words; above that figures are used:
There are three types of ants on the island, which covers just 17 hectares.
Note that there is no final 's' with hundred/ thousand/ million:
About seven million people died during the famine.
Too many statistics can be difficult for the reader to understand. The following phrases are commonly used to simplify numerical information:
one in ten, ten percent
a third/ quarter, fifth
a tenfold increase (10 x)
to double/ to halve
a small/ large percentage/ proportion
the majority ( + 50% )
a minority ( - 50% )
twice (2 x) as many
No comments:
Post a Comment