Telling a Story: Turning Numbers
Into Information and Knowledge
Jon Hall, PARIS21
NSOs: Data Disseminators or Knowledge Builders?
People’s Knowledge of Official Measures of Economic Performance
What U.S. Consumers Know About Economic Condition
Richard Curtin Research Professor and Director Survey of Consumers - University of Michigan
Statistics are worthless unless they are used!
Statistics are often perceived as
Boring
Not relevant to people’s lives
The last 2 cm is the most important
PUBLIC DATA DISSEMINATION SCENARIO
AUDIENCE
Public, Policymakers, Students
MEDIA
Internet, CD, Books, TV, Newspapers, Presentations
INTERPRETERS
Journalists, Activists, Researchers, Teachers
DATA
Source: Gapminder
National Statistical System
BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE...BECAUSE...
AUDIENCE
BORING
MEDIA
DIFFICULT
INTERPRETERS
EXPENSIVE
DATA
Source: Gapminder
National Statistical System
5
112
5
7
9
744
5
7 9 112 8 347
779 6,3
8
135,4 9
56 2006=10
45 + 7 12%
7687 2 3477
8
779 6,3
8
135,4 9 45
56 2006=10
+ 7 12%
Tabulation
Methods/calculations
7445
Statistics
Data entry & editing
Data
Data collection/surveys/adm. registers
(Master plan/strategy/MDGs/PRSPs, etc.)
NSOs = Numerical
Volcanoes?
10

User-friendly
presentation
Tabulation
Methods/calculations
Data entry & editing
Data collection/surveys/adm. registers
(Master plan/strategy/MDGs/PRSPs/etc.)
11
• Find the story
• Tell the story
• Spread the story
12
Find the interesting stories
• Don’t be afraid to make statistics
interesting – they are!
• But how to find the interesting
story?
13
Requires analysis…
•
In a complex society, readers need to be
guided through the numerical jungle: “What do
the numbers really mean”?
•
Informed users and the general public need
explanations, interpretation and comment
14
Analysis also
•
Forces us to look closer at the data: concepts,
definitions, measurements, sampling, etc.
•
… and provides feedback into the statistical
production process, increasing the quality of
statistics, by uncovering errors and mistakes
15
Analysis means …
• Selecting among all the possible numbers
What is…
– Important?
– Interesting?
– New…?
• Making the figures comparable
• And comparing: pointing out differences, trends and
tendencies
– Over time
– Between groups
16
Finding the Story
• Pick an indicator and ask ….
• What is the level and the rate of change for the
nation?
• How do different subgroups/regions etc differ?
• What is driving the change?
• How much change affect other aspects of life?
• How does this compare with other countries?
17
Telling the Story
• Short Simple Communication – Use Plain Language
18
General motto: KISS!
• Keep It Short and Simple!
• This applies to:
–
–
–
–
Tables
Graphs
Titles
Text
19
General motto: KISS!
User-friendly presentation
of statistics
Guide to creating a dissemination strategy and dissemination
guidelines for developing and transition countries
On www.paris21.org
20
User-friendly?
From: 2004 Census, Qatar
21
User-friendly?
Literacy rate. Adult men and women
Men
Women
1935
30.8
8.0
1945
44.3
13.5
1950
47.7
16.7
1955
56.3
21.3
1960
54.8
21.1
1965
64.7
27.6
:
:
etc.
From: Statistical Indicators 1923-2004, Turkstat
22
General motto: KISS!
Men & Women not Males & Females
People not Persons
23
General motto: KISS!
A female born in 2010 has a life
expectancy at birth of 77.3 years
Or
In 2010 a baby girl can expect to live to
be more than 77.
24
Telling The Story
• Use new ICT tools and other techniques
25
Telling The Story
Ask 4 questions:
• What do we have/use traditionally to present our
statistical data?
• Are all these options effectively helping us to reach
our different audiences?
• What are the new possibilities in this area?
• Are they better suited for our targets and will they
help improve communication on statistics?
Gapmider
Factbook on Gapminder
27
Fusion Charts
You Tube
Spreading the Story
30
Web 2.0 – Information Explosion
• Search engines
• Government and NGO websites
• Communication tools
– youtube for video,
• Interactive documents
• Discussion forums on data
– Many eyes, swivel
• Wikis
• Mash-ups
– E.g. google maps plus data on [war, water,
mobility…] from 3G phones
• Information and misinformation explosion
The role of the media
Traditional dissemination model

Media
 The public
 Libraries
NSI
 Education
 Government/org.
 Business
32
“New” dissemination model
Media
 The
public
 Libraries
NSI
 Education
 Government/org.
 Business
33
The media are of vital importance
because:
• They represent an important channel of
dissemination
• They help increase the visibility and public
recognition of the NSO
– And can improve the publics trust in statistics
34
Statistician and journalist:
Like cat and dog?
35
We must cooperate
Journalists are our best
friends …
36
Two basic rules when communicating
with the media:
• Equal treatment
– No pre-release access
• Establish a release calendar
37
In many NSOs dissemination is still
limited, because:
• Focus on data collection and processing
• Lack of experience (and coordination)
• ”Fear of dissemination”?
• Lack of dissemination strategy and guidelines
38
“Statistics are people with the tears washed away”
—Victor Sidel
Jon.Hall@oecd.org