BIDS Alum Sara Stoudt and colleague Deb Nolan, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in UC Berkeley's Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), have published a new book for students and researchers who want to improve their science communication skills, and to write about their insights in a way that is both compelling and faithful to the data. Advice on science writing is provided, including how to distill findings into a story, organizing and revising stories, and how to write clearly, concisely, and precisely.
Communicating with Data consists of five parts. Part I helps the novice learn to write by reading the work of others. Part II delves into the specifics of how to describe data at a level appropriate for publication, create informative and effective visualizations, and communicate an analysis pipeline through well-written, reproducible code. Part III demonstrates how to reduce a data analysis to a compelling story and organize and write the first draft of a technical paper. Part IV addresses revision; this includes advice on writing about statistical findings in a clear and accurate way, general writing advice, and strategies for proof reading and revising. Part V offers advice about communication strategies beyond the page, which include giving talks, building a professional network, and participating in online communities. This book also provides 22 portfolio prompts that extend the guidance and examples in the earlier parts of the book and help writers build their portfolio of data communication.
Communicating with Data: The Art of Writing for Data Science
May 25, 2021 | Deborah Nolan and Sara Stoudt | Oxford University Press
