The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, Second Edition

Jane E. Miller

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780226185804
• Topic: Sciences sociales
• Subtopic: Sociologie

Earning praise from scientists, journalists, faculty, and students, The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers has helped thousands of writers communicate data clearly and effectively. Its publication offered a much-needed bridge between good quantitative analysis and clear expository writing, using straightforward principles and efficient prose. With this new edition, Jane Miller draws on a decade of additional experience and research, expanding her advice on reaching everyday audiences and further integrating non-print formats.
Miller, an experienced teacher of research methods, statistics, and research writing, opens by introducing a set of basic principles for writing about numbers, then presents a toolkit of techniques that can be applied to prose, tables, charts, and presentations. Throughout the book, she emphasizes flexibility, showing writers that different approaches work for different kinds of data and different types of audiences.
The second edition adds a chapter on writing about numbers for lay audiences, explaining how to avoid overwhelming readers with jargon and technical issues. Also new is an appendix comparing the contents and formats of speeches, research posters, and papers, to teach writers how to create all three types of communication without starting each from scratch. An expanded companion website includes new multimedia resources such as slide shows and podcasts that illustrate the concepts and techniques, along with an updated study guide of problem sets and suggested course extensions.
This continues to be the only book that brings together all the tasks that go into writing about numbers, integrating advice on finding data, calculating statistics, organizing ideas, designing tables and charts, and writing prose all in one volume. Field-tested with students and professionals alike, this holistic book is the go-to guide for everyone who writes or speaks about numbers.

1

INTRODUCTION

Writing about numbers is an essential skill, an important tool in the repertoire of expository writers in many disciplines. For a quantitative analysis, presenting numbers and patterns is a critical element of the work. Even for works that are not inherently quantitative, one or two numeric facts can help convey the importance or context of your topic. An issue brief about education policy might include a statistic about the prevalence of school voucher programs and how that figure has changed since the policy was enacted. Or, information could be provided about the impact of vouchers on students’ test scores or parents’ participation in schools. For both qualitative and quantitative works, communicating numeric concepts is an important part of telling the broader story.

As you write, you will incorporate numbers in several different ways: a few carefully chosen facts in a short article or a nonquantitative piece, a table in the analytic section of a scientific report, a chart of trends in the slides for a speech, a case example in a policy statement or marketing report. In each of these contexts, the numbers support other aspects of the written work. They are not taken in isolation, as in a simple arithmetic problem. Rather, they are applied to some larger objective, as in a math “word problem” where the results of the calculations are used to answer some real-world question. Instead of merely calculating average out-of-pocket costs of prescription medications, for instance, the results of that calculation would be included in an article or policy statement about insurance coverage for prescription medications. Used in that way, the numbers generate interest in the topic or provide evidence for a debate on the issue.

In many ways, writing about numbers is similar to other kinds of expository writing: it should be clear, concise, and written in a logical order. It should start by stating an idea or proposition, then provide evidence to support that thesis. It should include examples that the expected audience can relate to, and descriptive language that enhances their understanding of how the evidence relates to the question. It should be written at a level of detail that is consistent with its expected use. It should set the context and define terms the audience might not be expected to know, but do so in ways that distract as little as possible from the main thrust of the work. In short, it will follow many of the principles of good writing, but with the addition of quantitative information.

When I refer to writing about numbers, I mean “writing” in a broad sense: preparation of materials for oral or visual presentation as well as materials to be read. Most of the principles outlined in this book apply equally to speech writing and the accompanying slides, or to development of a Web site, a research poster, educational podcast, or automated slide show.

Writing effectively about numbers also involves reading effectively about numbers. To select and explain pertinent quantitative information for your work, you must understand what those numbers mean and how they were measured or calculated. The first few chapters provide guidance on important features such as units and context to watch for as you garner numeric facts from other sources.

WHO WRITES ABOUT NUMBERS

Numbers are used everywhere. In daily life, you encounter numbers in stock market reports, recipes, sports telecasts, the weather report, and many other places. Pick up a copy of your local newspaper, turn on the television, or connect to the Internet and you are bombarded by numbers being used to persuade you of one viewpoint or another. In professional settings, quantitative information is used in laboratory reports, research papers, books, and grant proposals in the physical and social sciences, policy briefs, and marketing and finance materials. Consultants and applied scientists need to communicate with their clients as well as with highly trained peers. In all of these situations, for numbers to accomplish their purpose, writers must succinctly and clearly convey quantitative ideas. Whether you are a college student or a research scientist, a policy analyst or an engineer, a journalist or a consultant, chances are you need to write about numbers.

Facility in writing about numbers is a critical element of quantitative literacy—the ability to apply mathematical reasoning and computations to address substantive issues on a wide range of topics. Books such as Mathematics and Democracy: The Case for Quantitative Literacy (Steen 2001) and Achieving Quantitative Literacy: An Urgent Challenge for Higher Education (Steen 2004) make a compelling case for the importance of quantitative literacy not only in professions such as those listed above, but also in tasks of daily life related to personal finance, citizenship, health, and other activities that require using numeric information to make decisions. However, a series of books, including seminal works by Paulos (2001), Dewdney (1996), and Best (2001) suggest that many people emerge from school ill equipped to apply quantitative literacy skills to the kinds of questions central to functioning in modern society.

Despite the apparently widespread need, few people are formally trained to write about numbers. Communications specialists learn to write for varied audiences, but rarely are taught specifically to deal with numbers. Scientists and others who routinely work with numbers learn to calculate and interpret the findings, but rarely are taught to describe them in ways that are comprehensible to audiences with different levels of quantitative expertise or interest. Moreover, although the variety of topics named above demonstrates that substantive disciplines including the social sciences, biological sciences, and history all have roles to play in developing and practicing quantitative literacy (Miller 2010), many students spend little time learning to work with numbers in such courses.

I have seen poor communication of numeric information at all levels of training and experience, from papers by undergraduates who were shocked at the very concept of putting numbers in sentences, to presentations by business consultants, policy analysts, and scientists, to publications by experienced researchers in elite, peer-reviewed journals. This book is intended to bridge the gap between correct quantitative analysis and good expository writing, taking into account the intended objective and audience.

TAILORING YOUR WRITING TO ITS PURPOSE

A critical first step in any writing process is to identify the audience and objectives of the written work, which together determine many aspects of how you will write about numbers.

Objectives

First, determine the objectives of the piece. Are you aiming to communicate a simple point in a public service announcement? To use statistics to persuade magazine readers of a particular perspective? To serve as a reference for those who need a regular source of data for comparison and calculation? To test hypotheses using the results of a complex statistical analysis?

Audience

Next, identify the audience(s) for your work, what they need to know about your results, and their level of training and comfort with numeric information. Will your readers be an eighth-grade civics class? A group of legislators who need to be briefed on an issue? A panel of scientific experts?

If you are writing for several audiences, expect to write several versions. For example, unless your next-door neighbor has a degree in statistics, chances are he will not want to see the statistical calculations you used to analyze which schools satisfy the Common Core State Standards. He might, however, want to know what your results mean for your school district—in straightforward language, without Greek symbols, standard errors, or jargon. On the other hand, if the National Science Foundation funded your research, they will want a report with all the gory statistical details and your recommendations about research extensions as well as illustrative case examples based on the results.

Information about your objectives and audience, along with the principles and tools described throughout this book, will allow you to tailor your approach, choosing terminology, analogies, formats, and a level of detail that best convey the purpose, findings, and implications of your study to the people who will read it. Throughout this book, I return often to issues about audience and objectives as they relate to specific aspects of writing about numbers.

A WRITER’S TOOLKIT

Writing about numbers is more than simply plunking a number or two into the middle of a sentence. You may want to provide a general image of a pattern, or you may need specific, detailed information. Sometimes you will be reporting a single number, other times many numbers. Just as a carpenter selects among different tools depending on the job, people who write about numbers have an array of tools and techniques to use for different purposes. Some approaches do not suit certain jobs, whether in carpentry (e.g., welding is not used to join pieces of wood) or in writing about numbers (e.g., a pie chart cannot be used to show trends). And just as there may be several appropriate tools for a task in carpentry (e.g., nails, screws, glue, or dowels to fasten together wooden components), in many instances any of several tools could be used to present numbers.

There are three basic tools in a writer’s toolkit for presenting quantitative information: prose, tables, and charts.

Prose

Numbers can be presented as a couple of facts or as part of a detailed description of findings. A handful of numbers can be described in a sentence or two, whereas a complex statistical analysis can require a page or more. In the body of a paper, newspaper article, book, or blog, numbers are incorporated into full sentences. In slides for a speech, the executive summary of a report, chartbook pages, or on a research poster, numbers are often reported in a bulleted list, with short phrases used in place of complete sentences. Detailed background information is often given in footnotes (for a sentence or two) or appendixes (for longer descriptions).

Tables

Tables use a grid to present numbers in a predictable way, guided by labels and notes within the table. A simple table might present unemployment rates in each of several cities. A more complicated table might show relationships among three or more variables such as unemployment rates by city over a 20-year period, or results of statistical models analyzing unemployment rates. Tables are often used to organize a detailed set of numbers in appendixes, to supplement the information in the main body of the work.

Charts

There are pie charts, bar charts, line charts, scatter charts, and the many variants of each. Like tables, charts organize information into a predictable format: the axes, legend, and labels of a well-designed chart lead the audience through a systematic understanding of the patterns being presented. Charts can be simple and focused, such as a pie chart showing the racial composition of your study sample. Or they can be complex, such as a “high/low/close” chart illustrating stock market activity across a week or more.

As an experienced carpenter knows, even when any of several tools could be used for a job, often one of those options will work better in a specific situation. If there will be a lot of sideways force on a joint, glue will not hold well. If your listening audience has only 30 seconds to grasp a numerical relationship, a complicated table will be overwhelming. If kids will be playing floor hockey in your family room, heavy-duty laminated flooring will hold up better than parquet. If your audience needs many detailed numbers, a table will organize those numbers better than sentences.

With experience, you will learn to identify which tools are suited to different aspects of writing about numbers, and to choose among the workable options. Those of you who are new to writing about numbers can consider this book an introduction to carpentry—a way to familiarize yourself with the names and operations of each of the tools and the principles that guide their use. Those of you who have experience writing about numbers can consider this a course in advanced techniques, with suggestions for refining your approach and skills to communicate quantitative concepts and facts more clearly and systematically.

IDENTIFYING THE ROLE OF THE NUMBERS YOU USE

When writing about numbers, help your readers see where those numbers fit into the story you are telling—how they answer some question you have raised. A naked number sitting alone and uninterpreted is unlikely to accomplish its purpose. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence or thesis statement, then provide evidence that supports or refutes that statement. A short newspaper article on wages might report an average wage and a statistic on how many people earn the minimum wage. Longer, more analytic pieces might have several paragraphs or sections, each addressing a different question related to the main topic. A report on wage patterns might report overall wage levels, then examine how they vary by educational attainment, work experience, and other factors. Structure your paragraphs so your audience can follow how each section and each number contribute to the overall scheme.

To tell your story well, you, the writer, need to know why you are including a given fact or set of facts in your work. Think of the numbers as the answer to a word problem, then step back and identify (for yourself) and explain (to your readers) both the question and the answer. This approach is much more informative for readers than encountering a number without knowing why it is there. Once you have identified the objective and chosen the numbers, convey their purpose to your readers. Provide a context for the numbers by relating them to the issue at hand. Does a given statistic show how large or common something is? How small or infrequent? Do trend data illustrate stability or change? Do those numbers represent typical or unusual values? Often, numerical benchmarks such as thresholds, historical averages, highs, or lows can serve as useful contrasts to help your readers grasp your point more effectively: compare current average wages with the living wage needed to exceed the poverty level, for example.

ITERATIVE PROCESS IN WRITING

Writing about numbers is an iterative process. Initial choices of tools may later prove to be less effective than some alternative. A table layout might turn out to be too simple or too complicated, or you might conclude that a chart would be preferable. You might discover as you write a description of the patterns in a table that a different table layout would highlight the key findings more efficiently. You might need to condense a technical description of patterns for a research report into bulleted statements for an executive summary, or simplify them into charts for a speech or issue brief.

To increase your virtuosity at writing about numbers, I introduce a wide range of principles and tools to help you assess the most effective way to present your results. I encourage drafting tables and charts with pencil and paper before creating the computerized version, and outlining key findings before you describe a complex pattern, allowing you to separate the work into distinct steps. However, no amount of advance analysis and planning can envision the perfect final product, which likely will emerge only after several drafts and much review. Expect to have to revise your work, considering along the way the variants of how numbers can be presented.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS BOOK

How This Book Is Unique

Writing about numbers is a complex process: it involves finding pertinent data, identifying patterns, calculating comparisons, organizing ideas, designing tables or charts, and finally, writing prose. Each of these tasks alone can be challenging, particularly for novices. Adding to the difficulty is the final task of integrating the products of those steps into a coherent whole while keeping in mind the appropriate level of detail for your audience. Unfortunately, these steps are usually taught separately, each covered in a different book or course, discouraging authors from thinking holistically about the writ...