A statistical table provides summary statistics conveniently arranged in rows and columns. It is often intended to be read and interpreted by humans.
A dataset is "a file or group of files associated with one part of a study."*
* Diane Geraci, Chuck Humphrey, and Jim Jacobs, Data Basics: An Introductory Text (2012), http://3stages.org/class/2012/pdf/data_basics_2012.pdf.
For original material on webpages that are not (part of) formally published documents, CMOS 17, 14.207 recommends including as many of the following citation components as possible: "the title or description of the specific page (if cited); the title or description of the site as a whole [...]; the owner or sponsor of the site; and a URL". We recommend including an access date as well.
| Note | 43. Reporters Without Borders, "World Press Freedom Index 2014," accessed April 29, 2018, https://rsf.org/en/world-press-freedom-index-2014. |
| 44. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Census Bureau, "Public Health Insurance by Work Experience," American Community Survey, 2021: ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, table C27014, accessed May 15, 2023, https://data.census.gov/table?q=travel+time+to+work&y=2021&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.C27014. | |
| Bibliographic Entry |
Reporters Without Borders. "World Press Freedom Index 2014." Accessed April 29, 2018. https://rsf.org/en/world-press-freedom-index-2014. |
| U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Census Bureau. "Public Health Insurance by Work Experience." American Community Survey, 2021: ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, table C27014. Accessed May 15, 2023. https://data.census.gov/table?q=travel+time+to+work&y=2021&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.C27014. |
Source: CMOS 17, 14.207
Data archives and publishers may provide suggested citations for their datasets or databases. Although they may not be in the Chicago-style, they may provide the components that will enable you to more easily create a Chicago-style citation.
Except for citing a table in a book in a footnote (footnote 35 below), statistical tables are not discussed in CMOS 17. Other examples below are based on CMOS 17's options for citing "a specific chapter (or other titled part of a book)" (CMOS 17, 14.106).
The following models may be used when the author of the item you want to cite is also the source of the information in the table. Footnote 35 involves a table that is untitled. In the remaining examples, "Reconstructed Interest Group Ratings of the President" is the title of table 2.17 in the King and Ragsdale book.
| Note | 35. Gary King and Lyn Ragsdale, The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988), 86-87, table 2.17. |
| 36. Gary King and Lyn Ragsdale, "Reconstructed Interest Group Ratings of the President," in The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988), 86-87, table 2.17. | |
| 37. Gary King and Lyn Ragsdale, "Reconstructed Interest Group Ratings of the President," table 2.17 in The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988). | |
| Bibliographic Entry |
King, Gary and Lyn Ragsdale. "Reconstructed Interest Group Ratings of the President." In The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency, 86-87, table 2.17. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988. |
| King, Gary and Lyn Ragsdale. "Reconstructed Interest Group Ratings of the President." Table 2.17 in The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988. | |
| King, Gary and Lyn Ragsdale. The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988. See esp. table 2.17, "Reconstructed Interest Group Ratings of the President." |
Source: Footnote 35 based on: CMOS 17, 14.158. Other options based on CMOS 17, 14.106.
Authors commonly use statistics or an entire statistical table from another source. However, because the author may have adapted the table or the statistics from the original source and/or because the original source may be unavailable, we follow CMOS 17 in recommending that "both the original and the secondary source must be listed" and that "authors are expected to have examined the works they cite" if possible (CMOS 17, 14.260). Footnote 52 is patterned on an example from Chicago with modified language, in which the cited source is mentioned first (CMOS 17, 14.260). We also suggest the option in footnote 53 in which the citing source is mentioned first. Other variations that include the table title, such as "President's Most Important Domestic Programs" in footnote 54, are also possible.
| Note | 52. Paul Light, The President's Agenda (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), 70, table 5, cited as the source by Gary King and Lyn Ragsdale, The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988), 67, table 2.6. |
| 53. Gary King and Lyn Ragsdale, The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988), 67, table 2.6, citing as the source Paul Light, The President's Agenda (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), 70, table 5. | |
| 54. Gary King and Lyn Ragsdale, "President's Most Important Domestic Programs," in The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1988), 67, table 2.6, citing as the source Paul Light, The President's Agenda (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), 70, table 5. |
Source: Footnote 52 modified from: CMOS 17, 14.260.
On a related topic, see also CMOS 17, 3.76 on how to acknowledge your sources in the notes to tables. Turabian also provides good advice on source lines for tables (section 26.1.3 of A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago Style for students and researchers, 9th ed., Main Ref Research Lab LB2369 .T8 2018).
