Tables & Figures (asq-tables-figures)
When to trigger
- Your exhibits are dense, generic, or do not reveal the data structure
- Qualitative: you have quotes but no data-to-theory table or process model figure
- Quantitative: tables are over-stuffed or hide the result that matters
- Reviewers cannot reconstruct how your data became theory from the exhibits
Principle: exhibits do theoretical work
At ASQ, exhibits are part of the argument, not decoration. A reader should be able to grasp the contribution from the figures and tables alone. Build them in tandem with asq-data-analysis.
Qualitative exhibits
- Data structure figure. Show first-order codes → second-order themes → aggregate dimensions (Gioia-style), or an equivalent cross-case/process display. This is often the single most scrutinized exhibit in an inductive ASQ paper.
- Data-to-theory table. Columns: theoretical construct/dimension → representative quotes/evidence (proof quotes) → analytic note. This makes the inference auditable.
- Process model figure. For process theory, a clean phase/feedback diagram with arrows that mean something (sequence, transformation, feedback), labeled with your constructs.
- Case/site table. Comparative table of cases on key dimensions (for multiple-case designs).
- Power quotes live in the body; proof quotes live in tables — keep the body readable.
Quantitative exhibits
- Descriptives & correlations table (means, SD, correlations) — standard and complete.
- Main regression table. Build models cumulatively (baseline → controls → focal effects → interactions). Avoid wall-to-wall columns; show the models that test the theory.
- Interaction plots. Plot significant moderations; a marginal-effects/simple-slopes figure beats a coefficient alone.
- Robustness can be summarized compactly or moved to an appendix; the body shows the result that matters.
Craft standards (both)
- Each exhibit is self-contained: title, units, notes, significance conventions, and source defined in the note.
- Figures are clean and legible in grayscale; no chart-junk; consistent fonts and labels.
- Number and reference every exhibit in text; the text interprets, it does not merely repeat the table.
- Keep exhibits anonymized for ASQ's double-blind review (no author-revealing site names or acknowledgments in figure sources).
- Follow APA style for citations in notes (ASQ adopted APA in January 2025), with SAGE table conventions; manuscripts go in via ScholarOne (Word or PDF, 12-pt Times New Roman, double-spaced). Exhibits count toward length, and ASQ rewards "high intellectual value per page" — keep the whole manuscript near the suggested 35–45 pages of text (over-long files are unsubmitted before review). Verify current details at journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/asq.
Checklist
- Qual: data-structure figure present and faithful to the coding
- Qual: data-to-theory / evidence table lets a reader audit the inference
- Qual: process model figure (if process theory) with meaningful arrows
- Quant: descriptives + correlations table complete
- Quant: main table built cumulatively; interactions plotted
- Every exhibit is self-contained (title, notes, units, significance key)
- Text interprets exhibits rather than restating them
- Formatting matches current ASQ/SAGE guidelines (verify on official page)
Anti-patterns
- A "wall of coefficients" table where the key result is buried among dozens of columns
- Qualitative papers with quotes but no data-structure figure or evidence table
- Process figures whose arrows have no defined meaning
- Exhibits that require the body text to be interpretable (not self-contained)
- Chart-junk, illegible grayscale, inconsistent decimals/labels
- Reporting interaction coefficients without a plot
Output format
【Exhibit list】figures + tables planned 【Data-to-theory exhibit】present? (qual) / cumulative main table? (quant) 【Process model】present? (if process theory) 【Self-containment】all notes/units/keys complete? 【Formatting】matches ASQ/SAGE guidelines (verify) 【Next step】asq-writing-style
