Look at reputable examples of spider or radar graphs on university or government websites; ask professors or colleagues if they have any samples that you can review.
Select a focus for one or more spider graphs that you will create related to your research paper's theme. Choose one or more entities that have numerical data for three, four, five or more categories. For example, create a spider graph that visually compares the frequency of various mental illnesses in Canada and the United States.
Create a data table on a piece of scrap paper where the headings for the columns are the entities you are comparing. In this case, the headings would be Canada and the United States. Write titles for each row that represent the categories that will form the spokes of your spider graph. Row titles could include major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder and schizophrenia.
Write down the numerical data in the appropriate cells of the table. Under Canada, write 4.3 percent, 0.4 percent, 12.2 percent and 0.3 percent for depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder and schizophrenia, respectively. Under the United States, write 6.7 percent, 2.6 percent, 18.1 percent and 1.1 percent. Note that these data sets come from two different sources and are only serving as an example.
Mark a dot in the very center of a piece of graph paper and label it with a zero.
Draw enough rings that are equally spaced apart and grow farther and farther away from the zero mark, and that are appropriate for the numerical scale of your data. In this example, the data ranges from 0.3 percent to 18.1 percent, thus it would be appropriate to create 10 rings each worth a value of 2 percent. Use a protractor and a pencil to draw the rings--keep the sharp, pointy end of the protractor on the zero mark at all times.
Label each ring with its numerical value. Start with the closest ring at 2 percent; the last ring should be labeled 20 percent.
Write the names of the categories outside of the outer-most ring so that they are equally spaced apart. In this case, with four categories (depression, bipolar, anxiety and schizophrenia), the names can be placed at each of the poles of the graph.
Draw a spoke for each category by creating a straight line from the zero mark to the part of the outer-most ring where its corresponding category name is. In this case, draw four spokes.
Plot the data found in your data table for the first entity, in this case Canada, by inserting a point where the appropriate numerical ring intersects with the appropriate spoke line. For example, when plotting 18.1 percent of Canadians have anxiety, follow the anxiety disorder spoke until it just passes over the 18 percent ring and mark a point. Estimate values that reside in between two quantitative rings.
Connect the four points you have plotted and color in the shape.
Plot the points for the second entity, in this case United States.
Connect the four points and color in the shape a different color than the first shape.