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I am writing column labels for a reporting tool and I need to describe complex percentages very concisely.
The percentages are complex because it takes many words to describe them accurately. For example: "the percentage of male, eyeglass-wearing, students who are nearsighted." Using "% Nearsighted" doesn't work because it doesn't specify the denominator (male eyeglass-wearing students as opposed to female eyeglass-wearing students or to all students).
Due to space concerns, the wordy explanation can't be used. I need a shorthand convention for expressing percentages. Here are the current proposals:
[numerator] / [denominator] %
Nearsighted / Male with Glasses %
% [denominator] - [numerator]
% Male with Glasses - Nearsighted
Does anyone know of a conventional style for expressing these percentages? Am I overlooking a simpler approach?
