What is a double entry box? Features, functions and examples

Among the graphic organizers, the double entry table is one of the most used when facilitate the review and understanding of different data by putting them in a comfortable, visual and practical.

This type of resource is very useful while we are studying to organize ideas, when presenting a topic, presenting it in an academic paper or, simply, to compare any data.

Next let's see more in depth what double entry boxes are, what functions and characteristics they have, how to make one and we will also see a few examples.

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What is a double entry box?

A double-entry box, also called a double-entry matrix, is a table that helps to organize and match the knowledge about a certain topic or data and results of different variables. It is a graphic organizer that helps us to contrast different elements related to a theme, making it easier for us to relate the information collected in a more visual and simplified.

As tables that they are, these matrices are structured in rows and columns and in them you must write some key word or important reference that refers to the main topic.

These rows and columns intersect, forming cells that are the places where we will put the information that you want to represent. The number of these rows and columns will vary depending on the topic you want to talk about, being the really important thing to achieve a good comparison between the keywords that in them appear.

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Characteristics and functions of a double-entry matrix

There are several main outstanding characteristics of the double entry tables:

• The number of rows and columns in the table is variable.
• They are made to compare between different elements that make up the table.
• The information must be distributed horizontally and vertically.
• Columns and rows must refer to a specific keyword or definition.
• The columns and rows are crossed forming cells where the compared information will be placed.

Regarding the functions when organizing information we can highlight the following:

• Organize the contents in a visual and practical way.
• Analyze different elements related to a topic.
• Compare the information found on a topic.
• Simplify relevant information.
• Describe and relate different variables of a study or topic.
• Capture statistical or comparative data in research.

All of these features and functions bring with them several benefits when using the dual frames. input, especially applied to the academic world such as studies or presenting data from a investigation. The main one is that allow to quickly appreciate data that are related to each other, facilitating their comparison and the detection of similar aspects. They are also very useful when you want to explain a topic or information that has two fixed variables.

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Recommendations in its preparation

To facilitate the realization of these graphic organizers, we give a series of general recommendations when making a double entry table to make it as useful as possible for our study, presentations or organization of our academic work.

• Be clear about the information to be explained.

• Carry out in-depth documentation prior to preparing the table.

• Establish the variables and elements of the topic to be analyzed.

• Determine what is the best distribution to represent the data in the matrix.

• Read carefully all the information on the subject of study.

• Establish what the rows and columns will be and determine their quantity.

• Check that the data is in the cells that correspond to them.

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How to make a double entry table?

Now We will see what are the steps to follow to develop a double entry table.

1. Select and research the topic to talk about

The first step is to select the topic that we are going to talk about and analyze.. Once we are clear about the issue in question, we will proceed to carry out an investigation as much as possible. as detailed as possible about that content, in order to ensure that we do not forget any data important.

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2. Draw the table

Once all the relevant information has been obtained, we will proceed to draw the double entry box. It is in this step that we will draw a table, which will be the skeleton of our graphic organizer, and we will begin to ask ourselves how many columns and rows are necessary to be able to explain everything we want to expose in it.

At this point, we will consider what are the important topics and subtopics of the subject from which we want to talk, since they will be the ones that appear in the first boxes of the columns and the rows.

3. Indicate the key issues

Once the topics and subtopics that make up what we want to talk about are known, we proceed to write them in the first cells of the columns and rows.

Normally what is done is to put at the top of each column the variables that represent the study topic, while the subtopics should be added by subdividing the relevant rows.

Since the topics, keywords and key ideas are the most important they should stand out. To do this, various graphic resources can be used, such as, for example, writing them in capital letters, making them bold or highlighting them with underlining or a different color.

4. Place the compared information

Once we are clear about the key issues and we have put in all the columns and rows that we consider necessary, we will proceed to place the compared information. It is advisable to do it from right to left and from top to bottom, going from the simplest to the most complicated or complex.

As the objective of this is to highlight the compared information in a visual and practical way, it is not It is not recommended at all to write paragraphs in each of the cells that intersect rows and columns. For this reason, it is essential to verify that all the important information is present, but in a synthetic and easily memorizable way.

Examples of double entry tables

Finally, we are going to see some cases of double entry tables.

1. Cases of a disease X

In this double entry table we can analyze how many confirmed cases there are of a disease that is affecting an imaginary town.

In the first column the names of the four districts in which the city is organized are indicated, the second column marks us confirmed cases of the disease, the third the people discharged and, finally, we have the number of deaths per neighborhood. Each row represents the confirmed, discharged and deceased cases by neighborhood, except for the last one that indicates it for the entire town.

2. Type table

Here we present a double entry table in which we see the weaknesses and strengths of different types in a made-up video game. Here the type of the attack (first column) is compared with the type of the recipient (first row).

3. Percentages of different amounts

This is a solved exercise in which the student had to figure out which ones were the percentages (first column) of different amounts (first row). The student had to mark in the cells what was the exact amount of each of the numbers that appear in the top row taking into account the percentages that appear in the column of the left.