Statistical Sciences 9544A Communicating about Statistics

Remember David Cox’s Advice Be interested in the subject matter involved. Aim to use the terminology of the subject matter field where it differs from common statistical usage. Discreetly determine how much understanding of statistical issues the investigator has. Mechanical use of significance tests to confirm overwhelming effects for example is a bad sign. Take considerable care over presentation of conclusions.

Two Forms in the Consulting Context Oral presentation Written report

Oral Presentations Three parts preparation delivery afterwards

Preparation take time to prepare research your audience don’t leave it to the last minute rehearse your presentation research your audience influences the content of the presentation influences the approach to the presentation make sure your main points address the audience’s objectives identify your goals What is the purpose of the presentation? soliciting new business interim report final report know your time limit prepare to begin on time and to finish on time dress appropriately “For the apparel oft proclaims the man” Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 1 Scene 3 i.e. people often make judgments about others based upon the clothes that they wear

Delivery speak clearly, with enough volume speak with confidence use excellent visuals make frequent eye contact make the presentation like it is a conversation with a friend be excited about the topic memorize the presentation do not try to recite it do not read from a script inhibits eye contact the presentation sounds unnaturally stilted makes the presenter less engaging have notes that contain keywords and main ideas in point form reminds the presenter to look up makes the presentation sounds more like a conversation engages the audience better

Afterwards offer to make the presentation available by e-mail on request or by other means leave enough time for a question and answer session remain afterward to chat with members of the audience consider having handouts business cards

Written Report Contents title page executive summary description of the results of the work in layman’s terms introduction discussion conclusion appendices technical appendix? computer code, if requested documentation (i.e. references, if any)

General Comments number your pages, except the title page number all figures and tables (as occurs in journal papers) if the document is long divide the report into sections give titles to the sections begin a new section on a new page provide a table of contents

Title Page

Executive Summary Purpose: to give a brief overview of the project If the client is a group or team, it lets the team leader decide quickly whether he/she is going to read the rest of the report, pass it on to another more appropriate member of the team, or trash the whole thing and never use you again as a consultant. Contains: major points of the report are given in an accessible way does not have to summarize all parts of the report written in nontechnical language must avoid jargon at most one page in length

Body of the Report: Writing Style Use: language that people understand short sentences and short paragraphs one main idea per paragraph simple language such as: “get,” not “acquire” or “about” not “approximately” or “same,” not “identical” bulleted lists for easy scanning active voice – “We found that…” Not: “It was found that....”; Avoid: jargon and technical terms acronyms “table reading”, that is, describing every cell of a complex table in your text Advice taken from: Making Data Meaningful, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Body of the Report: Data Analysis If the consulting project relates to data analysis: state the problems you were asked to solve translate these problems into statistical estimation problems or hypothesis tests as appropriate carry out the estimation procedures or tests, and interpret your results in layman’s terms the analysis may includes items such as analysis of variance tables which should be explained and interpreted according to the level of sophistication of the client when using statistical software such as R, if appropriate include the code and output in an appendix, not in the body of the report

Body of the Report: Inclusion of Graphs “A picture is worth a thousand words” Good statistical graphics: show the big picture by presenting many data points are “paragraphs” of data that convey one finding or a single concept highlight the data by avoiding extra information and distractions, sometimes called “non-data ink” and “chart-junk” present logical visual patterns.

Body of the Report: Inclusion of Tables used to complement text. they should be presented in a concise, well organized fashion to support the analysis tables are used to help minimize the numbers that appear in the body of the text they also eliminate the need to discuss insignificant variables that are not essential to the main conclusions of the report. General advice: make it easy for the reader to find and understand numbers in a table presentation tables are generally small one or two decimal places will be usually be adequate