Statistical Report Writing
Statistical Report Writing
School of Mathematics , The University of Manchester.Contents
1 Summary 2
2 Introduction 2
3 Structure 2
3.1 Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2 Summary/Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.4 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.5 Results, conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.6 General discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.8 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 Content 5
5 Presentation 5
5.1 Figures, Plots, diagrams, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.2 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.3 Computer output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6 Use of English 6
7 Style 7
8 Detailed Preparation 8
9 Afterwards 8
10 References 9
11 Appendix: Statistics project reports - some interesting quotes 10
11 Summary
As the work environment grows in complexity, the importance of skillful commu- nication becomes essential. In addition to the need to develop adequate statistical skills you will ¯nd it necessary to e®ectively communicate to others the results of statistical studies. It is of little use performing complex and sophisticated statis- tical analyses if the conclusions of such analyses are not meaningfully transmitted to the rest of the community.
This document gives general guidance about the writing of reports, with par- ticular reference to statistical reports following a statistical analysis. While this is immediately relevant for some of the courses you are taking, it may also be of help to you in your future job(s), some of which will hopefully use statistics.
2 Introduction
School of Mathematics , The University of Manchester.Contents
1 Summary 2
2 Introduction 2
3 Structure 2
3.1 Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2 Summary/Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.4 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.5 Results, conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.6 General discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.8 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 Content 5
5 Presentation 5
5.1 Figures, Plots, diagrams, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.2 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.3 Computer output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6 Use of English 6
7 Style 7
8 Detailed Preparation 8
9 Afterwards 8
10 References 9
11 Appendix: Statistics project reports - some interesting quotes 10
11 Summary
As the work environment grows in complexity, the importance of skillful commu- nication becomes essential. In addition to the need to develop adequate statistical skills you will ¯nd it necessary to e®ectively communicate to others the results of statistical studies. It is of little use performing complex and sophisticated statis- tical analyses if the conclusions of such analyses are not meaningfully transmitted to the rest of the community.
This document gives general guidance about the writing of reports, with par- ticular reference to statistical reports following a statistical analysis. While this is immediately relevant for some of the courses you are taking, it may also be of help to you in your future job(s), some of which will hopefully use statistics.
2 Introduction
References: Chapman, M. & Mahon, B. (1986), Plain Figures, HMSO, London. Fowler, H. W. (1983), Dictionary of Modern English Usage (2nd edi- tion revised by Sir Ernest Gowers), Oxford University Press, Ox- Gowers, Sir Ernest (1973), The Complete Plain Words (2nd edition re- vised by Sir Bruce Fraser), Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Mid- Higham, Nicholas J. (1993), Handbook of Writing for the Mathemat- ical Sciences, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics,