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Note on figures / percentages

Dr Frank Gaillard et al.

We all know that figures can vary widely from various publications, and usually precise figures are irrelevant.

Some texts favour listing the the range that has been published without giving a 'best guess ballpark figure'. We feel this is not entirely useful as it often generates very wide ranges which are had to remember and are of little help: e.g. 5-72%

When you encounter such a problem please try and collapse the figures to a rough average that agrees with most of the figures and include the range as well, with appropriate references. Often text books have done this already, using multiple sources to arrive at a ball-park.

The resulting number should look like: ~35% (range 12-72%) ^1-5.

Note the following structure:

~ indicates that this is an approximation
figure is rounded off
- to nearest 5 for numbers beween 15 - 85% is usually appropriate
- at either extreme precise numbers are probably best
the range is in brackets
references included to support this range