Comparison Chart: what is it, types and examples?

This type of visual resource is very useful for establishing comparisons and organizing information.

There are many concepts, theories, ideas, stimuli and realities that human beings have been creating and/or studying throughout history, and there is a large amount of data and information on a practically unlimited variety of subjects.

Organizing this information is essential if we want to work with it, and it can be useful to generate instruments that show it to us in a visual and schematic way.

Likewise, when we refer to concepts or points of view that are linked but different from each other, a good representation of this type may be advisable in order to try to make an efficient comparison of the elements to be assessed. In this sense, the use of techniques such as the following can be useful the preparation of comparative tables. Let's see what the latter consist of.

Comparative table: what are we talking about?

It receives the name of comparative table to a type of basic graphical tool which arises as a result of an attempt to systematize and to synthesize in a summarized and easily understandable form a comparison between different categories previously thought in order to organize the available information information available regarding, for example, observed phenomena or parameters of the same variable.

This systematization of information takes the form, as its name indicates, of a square or rectangle, generally having a table format that is easily interpretable and in which it is easy to visualize the information to be contrasted. information that is contrasted between the different phenomena or variables observed and analyzed. or variables observed and analyzed.

It is a basic mechanics of great utility for study or even for making quick decisions, which we use quite often in our daily lives (although its formal use seems to date back only to the nineteenth century, although there were probably precedents to it before.

It allows an easy and organized reading of the information, exposing in a clear and concise way the most relevant information and allowing a categorization and classification of this and a facilitation of its retention thanks to the use of the visual way.

How is it structured?

The structure of a comparative table is highly variable, since everyone can do it the way they want and with different forms and formats. However, as a general rule they all share some basic elements.

In this sense, it consists of a main theme on which the table in question deals with, one or several sub-themes between which it will be divided and which will be compared, and then several elements of comparison or variables, whose values will be what they differ or are similar to each other..

For example, we can compare the differences between the main components of the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic school as a theme using the authors Freud and Jung as subthemes and aspects such as the notion of drive, the types of unconscious, the focus on the culturally inherited, the importance given to libido and sexuality, the interpretation of dreams, the type of psychotherapy and techniques used or the development of personality as variables to comment on.

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Two basic types

Comparative tables can be done in very different ways, such that a wide variety of classifications could be made aspects such as form. However, if we take into account the type of information they use, we can mainly find two main types.

Qualitative comparative table

We consider qualitative all information that cannot be operationalized or that has not been operationalized before generating the comparative table. Thus, it consists mainly of descriptive information in which no nuances such as the nuances such as the degree to which a certain variable is present cannot be perceived.. Although easily understandable, it can lead to different interpretations of the information.

Quantitative comparative table

These are considered as such all those comparative tables in which the parameters of the variables have been operationalized and quantified, in such a way that it is possible to work with such information in such a way that information is provided. about the numerical-mathematical relationships between variables. They are more technical and usually require more work, but they are also more subjective and less prone to misinterpretation.

An example

In order to observe a simple case of a comparative table, we will see one with the theme of the types of rhyme.

Bibliographical references:

• Fink, A. (2005). How to Conduct Surveys. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.