1. Statistical Sciences 9544A
Communicating about Statistics

2. 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.

3. Two Forms in the Consulting Context
Oral presentation
Written report

4. Oral Presentations
Three parts
preparation
delivery
afterwards

5. 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

6. 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

7. Afterwards
offer to make the presentation available by 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

8. 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)

9. 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

10. Title Page

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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