Making Date Talk

As you read NIH’s Making Data Talk: A Workbook  (Chapters 1-5, plus pages 36-37), make notes in your own words on the following:

1. You CAN Make Data Talk and Be Understood (10 points)
   1. Name at least 3 common differences between scientists and lay audiences.
   1. List 3 expectations that an audience generally has when receiving scientific data.
   1. Describe at least 3 strategies to make data more audience-friendly.
   1. What else in this chapter stood out to you as particularly helpful and/or concerning?

• Use Communication Fundamentals to Your Advantage (10 points)
  • What are the 4 main elements of the basic communication model?
  • What is a “storyline?” 
  • What will be the storyline for your newsletter and presentation in this class?
  • Identify 3 sources of information the general public regularly uses to obtain health-related information.
  • What else in this chapter stood out to you as particularly helpful and/or concerning?

• Help Lay Audiences Understand Your Data (10 points)
  • There are several audience tendencies that can influence how people receive and process data.  Which 3 tendencies are you most concerned about for your upcoming newsletter article and/or presentation?
  • Describe 4 audience biases that influence people’s quantitative data processing.
  • Identify at least 4 strategies you plan to use to overcome these tendencies and biases in your upcoming newsletter article and/or presentation.
  • What else in this chapter stood out to you as particularly helpful and/or concerning?

• Present Data Effectively (10 points)
  • Describe 4 methods of communicating health findings with words.  Which one(s) might you use in your upcoming newsletter and/or presentation?
  • What 2 ways of communicating findings directly with numbers do you expect to use in your upcoming newsletter and/or presentation?
  • What visual symbol(s) do you plan to use in your upcoming newsletter and/or presentation? 
  • What will you be sure to do (or not do!) to use those symbols most effectively?
  • What else in this chapter stood out to you as particularly helpful and/or concerning?

• Use the OPT-In Framework to Make Your Data Talk (10 points)
  • What are the 4 primary purposes of communicating public health information?
  • What role(s) will data play in your upcoming newsletter and presentation?
  • Describe the 4 steps in applying the OPT-In framework. 
  • What else in this chapter stood out to you as particularly helpful and/or concerning?