Chapter 15: Using Visual Displays to Enhance Understanding of Quantitative Research

It is not uncommon for students new to statistics to experience difficulty comprehending basic statistical concepts. Even seasoned researchers may struggle to understand statistical techniques with which they have little experience. To facilitate comprehension, it is important for statistical concepts to be presented in a manner that aligns with the principles of cognitive processing. Several cognitive theories suggest that visual displays can be used to enhance comprehension. In this chapter we describe why visual displays are useful and illustrate their effectiveness in quantitative research by providing the results from a multiple regression model, a latent profile analysis model, and a latent growth model twice—once with visual displays and once without. Although visual displays enhance understanding and facilitate more accurate interpretations of statistical analyses, their presence in published research is limited. Possible reasons for the scarcity of visual displays are provided along with a call for their increased use.