

How to Tell a Story with Statistics
March 21, 2006
Maia Szalavitz

It’s rare that we see an article that uses statistics and research well, putting them in context to give readers a sense not just of the latest study, but of a body of literature that has important implications for society. The New York Times did this yesterday in a front page story headlined, “Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn.”

The article summarized the findings:



Then, it used anecdotes to put a human face on them and included numbers, not just percentages, to give a sense of the huge scope of the problem. It also included larger analysis of the trends and possible causes for them. This is the kind of reporting that helps both the public and policy makers understand a complex problem: it is based on data, uses anecdote to illustrate that research rather than trying to find research to illustrate a pet anecdote; and makes a complex issue vivid and compelling.