Before all else what is statistics. Well the science of statistics focuses on creating and researching strategies for gathering, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting empirical data. Readers of statistical reports are given information about a specific topic or undertaking. By properly arranging your report and incorporating all the information your readers require, you may write a good statistical report.
How do you write a statistics report
A. Creating a Statistics Report’s Format
Examine additional statistical reports.
If you’ve never produced a statistical report before, it may be helpful to see examples of reports that are similar to yours so you can learn how to structure your own. Additionally, you get an excellent understanding of how your final report ought to appear.
If you ask your instructor or professor, they might be willing to show you some reports that other students have submitted for a class that you’re working on. Finding a sample makes you know what you need to know.
Use a legible typeface to type your report.
Statistical reports are normally typed single-spaced using a 12-point font like Arial or Times New Roman. If your assignment sheet specifies the formatting standards, go by them to the letter.
Typically, you want your report’s margins to be one inch on both sides. When adding visual components to your report, such as charts and graphs, take care to ensure they don’t bleed over the margins or your report may not print correctly and appear sloppy.
Use the right citation style.
Different fields have their own conventions for citing the books, papers, and other resources you used in your research. Use the citation style most often used in the area of your research, even if you feel more at ease with another one.
Style guides frequently include citation techniques. These guides also cover appropriate grammar, acceptable abbreviations, headings, and basic formatting guidelines for your paper.
Put a cover sheet in.
Your name, the title of your statistical report, as well as the names of any other individuals who made a significant contribution to your research or the report itself, are listed on the cover sheet. It gives your final report a nice display.
You could need a cover sheet if you’re writing your statistical report for a class. To figure out if a cover sheet is necessary and what should be on it, check with your instructor or professor or look at your assignment sheet.
Put headings in the sections.
Headings can make your report easier to read, depending on how it will be utilized and who will read it. This is especially true if you anticipate that your readers will scan the report or skip around between sections.
If you choose to use section headings, they should be bolded and separated from the surrounding content in some way. For instance, you might wish to use a slightly larger font size and center bold-faced headlines.
To view the layout, print the page first.
Your report will often seem just as it does on your screen when you compose it in a word processing application. But it’s possible that certain aesthetic components won’t align the way you want them to.
Verify the margins around any visual elements to ensure that the text is aligned and not too close to them It should be obvious where the text stops and the words that go with the visual element such the axis labels for a graph start.
B. Writing Your Statistics Content
Compose your report’s abstract.
The abstract is a succinct summary of the entire project, including the research methodologies employed, the findings, and your analysis, usually no longer than 200 words or so.
As much as possible, refrain from using highly scientific or statistical terminology in your abstract. The audience for your abstract should be broader than those who will read the complete report.
Create an introduction.
The goal of your research or experiment is stated in the report’s introduction. Tell the reader why you chose this particular project and what questions you hoped it would help you address.
Use language that is straightforward and succinct to establish the tone for your report. Regardless of the audience for your report, explain your project in plain English rather than utilizing a lot of statistics.
Specify the research techniques you employed.
You should describe your project’s methodology in depth in this portion of your report, including any experiments you carried out and the techniques you employed to gather raw data.
Describe any special techniques you employed to keep tabs on the outcomes, especially if your experiments or studies were longer-term or observational in nature.
Explain your findings.
Describe the precise results of your study or experiment. You should simply include facts in this area of your report; there should be no analysis or discussion of the implications of those findings.
In general, you should avoid expressing findings that contradict your initial expectations or hypotheses. However, if something shocking or unexpected came out during your study, you could at least want to mention it.
Summarize your findings.
In this part, your results are analyzed and defined in relation to the larger field or industry. You should also let the reader know whether your results supported your original theories.
Leave the dense, statistical terminology behind when you get to this area of your report. Even if they didn’t read your results part, everyone should be able to grasp this section.
Discuss any issues or problems.
At the conclusion of your report, discuss how your results compare to or differ from those of any prior research.
It is common to realize things in hindsight that would have made data-gathering simpler or more effective at this point. This is also where you resolve any issues you may have encountered while performing your study. The place to talk about those is here. You want to share your knowledge with upcoming researchers because the scientific method is set up so that others can replicate your findings.
Cite your sources, the references.
You should include a table or list of any books or publications you utilize to complete your research or that you alluded to in the report itself right after your statistical report.
Cite your sources according to the conventions established by your discipline or area of study.
Be mindful of your audience. If no one who reads your report can grasp what you did or what you accomplished, it will be of very little value. You should probably write your statistics report for a more general audience even if it is an assignment for a class.
If your report will be viewed primarily by readers outside of your specific industry, avoid using trade or industry jargon.
C. Presenting Your Statistics Data
Label each table and graph with a title.
You can refer to each graphic element in your text by giving it a unique name and title. Using spatial references in your content can be problematic since they might affect how your report prints.
If you’re submitting your report to a trade journal for publication, this is especially crucial. Your visual components won’t line up the same way in the journal as they do in your manuscript if the pages are different sizes from the paper you print your report on.
Keep your visual components organized and spotless.
Readers will find your visual elements challenging if they appear messy and cluttered on the page. Your report’s visual components shouldn’t make it harder to read, but rather should make it easier.
Ensure that every visual component is big enough for your readers to view everything clearly without having to squint. It won’t be very useful to readers if you have to scale down a graph so much that they can’t read the labels.
Distribute information in an effective manner.
A chart or graph should be clear and understandable at a glance as it is being created. Your readers won’t benefit much if the information is overloaded or the scope is too broad.
If your research requires it, only go down to fractions of a percentage when your data contains percentages. There is no need to display more than the entire percentage if the minimum difference between your subjects is two percentage points. However, you would need to display percentages to two decimal places so the graph would show the difference if the difference between your subjects is only a few hundredths of a percent.
As an illustration, if your report has a bar graph showing the distribution of test scores for a chemistry class, and those scores are 97.56, 97.52, 97.46, and 97.61, your x axis would be each of the students, and your y axis would start at 97 and run up to 98. This would draw attention to the variations in the pupils’ test results.
Add raw data to the appendices.
Your report’s appendices may be the longest section, especially for lengthy projects. Include copies of all raw data, such as data sets, statistical findings, and interview questions.
Watch out that your appendix doesn’t make your report too long. Not every data sheet or other document you produced during the course of your project needs to be included.