powerpoint presentation · ppt file · web view2015-01-27 · strong verbs will make the lead...

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Writing Statistics:Relevant parameters for

highlighting in the article/report

CONTRACTOR IS ACTING UNDER A FRAMEWORK CONTRACT CONCLUDED WITH THE COMMISSION

Iraj NamdarianLuxumbourg – 15/01/2015

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2. Relevant parameters for highlighting in the article/report:

1 Principles of Media Objectivity2 Making Data Meaningful (writing stories

about numbers) 3 Visual elements4 Review and discussion about some

international Official Statistics2

Session overview

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“If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Media Objectivity:• People's right to true information• Dedication to objective reality• Social responsibility• Professional integrity• Public access and participation

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Media Objectivity:• Respect for privacy and human dignity• Respect for public interest• Respect for universal values and diversity

of cultures• Principles of freedom in the honest

collection and publication of news, and of the right of fair comment and criticism

• Respect for truth and for the right of the public to truth 5

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Making Data Meaningful

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Making Data Meaningful:

How to write a statistical story• Statistical offices have an

obligation to make the data they collect useful to the public.

• Stories get people interested in statistical information and help them to understand what the information means in their lives.

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2.2 Making Data Meaningful:

How to write a statistical story• After they read good statistical stories,

people should feel wiser and informed, not confused.

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How to write a statistical story• A statistical story must be based on

sufficient knowledge of the data and the phenomenon under study.

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How to write a statistical story• When preparing a statistical story, you

must also remember the European Statistics Code of Practice: (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-32-11-955)

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http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-32-11-955





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How to write a statistical storyFundamental Principles of Official Statistics:• Impartiality;• Professionalism;• Metadata;

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How to write a statistical storyFundamental Principles of Official Statistics:• Comment on erroneous interpretation;• Diverse sources;• Confidentiality;• Transparency;

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How to write a statistical storyFundamental Principles of Official Statistics:• National coordination;• International standards;• International cooperation.

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Possible topics/themes for stories:• Current interest (policy agenda, media coverage, etc.)• Reference to everyday life (food prices, health, etc.)

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Possible topics/themes for stories:• Reference to a particular group (teens, women, the elderly, etc.)• Personal experiences (transportation, education, etc.)

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Possible topics/themes for stories:• Holidays (Labour Day, Christmas, etc.)• Current events (statistics on a topic frequently in the news)

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Possible topics/themes for stories:• A regular series (“This is the way we live now”, “Spotlight on xxxx”, etc.)• Calendar themes (spring, summer, etc.)• New findings

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Write like a journalist - The “inverted pyramid”:

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Write like a journalist - The “inverted pyramid”:Journalists use the “inverted pyramid” style. Conclusions at the top of the news story, and followed with secondary points in order of decreasing importance throughout the text.

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Some tips for clear writing:• Use short sentences;• Aim for one idea per sentence;• Break up long sentences;

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Some tips for clear writing:• Start each paragraph with the most

important message;• Keep paragraphs short;• Keep your writing crisp.

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The lead: Your first paragraph The first paragraph, or lead, is the most important element of the story. The lead not only has to grab the reader’s attention and draw him or her into the story, but it also has to capture the general message of the data.

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The lead: Your first paragraph • The Lead should not summarise the whole

report. • The Lead provides the most important and

interesting facts. • The Lead should not be packed with

assumptions, explanations of methodology or information on how the data have been collected.

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Tips for Writing a Lead• Brevity: Leads are often short and

concise. • Specificity: A lead should be as specific

as possible. • Active sentences: Strong verbs will

make the Lead lively and interesting.25

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Tips for Writing a Lead• Audience and context: Taking into

account what the reader already knows.In today’s media culture, most readers become aware of breaking news as it happens.

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Tips for Writing a Lead• Focus on one or two findings• Write in everyday language (the “popular

science” level)• Create images for your readers• Focus on the things you want readers to

remember.27

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Tips for Writing a LeadWhat to Avoid:• Flowery language: overuse of adverbs

and adjectives in the leads.• Unnecessary words or phrases:

(unintentional) redundancy. For example, 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon

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Tips for Writing a LeadWhat to Avoid:• Formulaic leads: Readers want

information, but they also want to be entertained.

• The lead must sound genuine, not merely mechanical.

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Tips for Writing a LeadWhat to Avoid:• It: Most editors frown on leads that begin

with the word “it” because it is not precise and disorients the reader.

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Good writing techniques • Terms meaningful to an economist may be

foreign to a layperson, so avoid jargon. • Use everyday language as much as

possible.• If you have to use difficult terms or

acronyms, you should explain them the first time they are used.

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Good writing techniques • Large numbers are difficult to grasp. Use

the words millions, billions or trillions. Instead of 3,657,218, write “about 3.7 million.” You can also make data simpler and more comprehensible by using rates, such as per capita or per square mile.

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Good writing techniques Use:• Language that people understand;• Short sentences, short paragraphs;• One main idea per paragraph;• Subheadings to guide the reader’s eye;

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Good writing techniques Use:• Simple language: “Get,” not “acquire.”

“About,” not “approximately.” “Same,” not “identical”;

• Bulleted lists for easy scanning;

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Good writing techniques Use:• A good editor. Go beyond Spell-Check; ask

a colleague to read your article;• Active voice. “We found that…” Not: “It

was found that....”;

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Good writing techniques Use:• Numbers in a consistent fashion: For

example, choose 20 or twenty, and stick with your choice;

• Rounded numbers (both long decimals and big numbers);

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Good writing techniques Use:• Embedded quotes (these are sentences

that generally explain “how” or “why”, and which journalists like to use verbatim in their news stories in quotes);

• URLs, or electronic links, to provide your reader with a full report containing further information. 37

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Good writing techniques Avoid:• “Elevator statistics”: This went up, this

went down, this went up;• Jargon and technical terms;• Not explained Acronyms;

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Good writing techniques Avoid:• All capital letters and all italics: Mixed

upper and lower case is easier to read;• “Table reading”, that is, describing every

cell of a complex table in your text.

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Make the numbers “stick” • Numbers don’t “talk”. But they should

communicate a message, effectively and clearly.

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• How well they do this depends a lot on how well authors use numbers in their text.

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Make the numbers “stick” • In a sense, journalists and statisticians are

from two cultures. They tend not to talk the same language.

• Journalists communicate with words; statisticians communicate with numbers.

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Some suggestions for making the data“stick”:• Don’t peel the onion. Get to the point • Avoid proportions in brackets• Avoid changing denominators• Reduce big numbers to understandable

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Visual elements

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Visual elements“a picture is worth a thousand words”

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Visual elementsOne of the best techniques for understanding data is to visualize the numbers as a picture.

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The target group: different forms of presentation may be needed for different audiences (e.g. business or academia, specialists or the general population).

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Tips about visual presentations:

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The role of the graphic in the overall presentation: analysing the big picture or focusing attention on key points may require different types of visual presentations.

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How and where the message will be presented: a long, detailed analysis or a quick slideshow.

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Contextual issues that may distort understanding: expert or novice data user.

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Whether textual analysis or a data table would be a better solution.

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Tables:Five support components are needed to describe the data displayed in a table:

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Charts:Statistics can often be better understood when they are presented in a chart than in a table.A chart is a visual representation of statistical data, in which the data arerepresented by symbols such as bars or lines.

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Charts:Charts can be used to illustrate patterns in a large amount of data or tocommunicate a key finding or message.

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Charts:You should consider using charts if youwant to show:• Comparison: How much? Which item is

bigger or smaller?• Changes over time:

How does a variable evolve?

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Charts:You should consider using charts if youwant to show:• Frequency distribution: How are the

items distributed? What are the differences?

• Correlation: Are two variables linked?• Relative share of a whole: How does

one item compare to the total?

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A good chart:• grabs the reader’s attention;• presents the information simply,

clearly and accurately;• does not mislead;

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A good chart:• displays the data in a concentrated way

(e.g. one line chart instead of many pie charts);

• facilitates data comparison and highlights trends and differences;

• illustrates messages, themes or storylines in the accompanying text.

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Reconsider using charts when data:• are very dispersed;• have too few values;• have too many values;• show little or no variation.

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BAD EXAMPLE GOOD EXAMPLE

All components have maximum impact. The result is a busy chart, difficult to read, even though it shows only three values.

This chart is much easier to read. Minimal use of support components ensures that datatake centre stage.

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Thank you

CONTRACTOR IS ACTING UNDER A FRAMEWORK CONTRACT CONCLUDED WITH THE COMMISSION

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