The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, Second Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) - Softcover

Miller, Jane E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 022618577X ISBN 13: 9780226185774

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2015

Synopsis

Earning praise from scientists, journalists, faculty, and students, The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers has helped thousands of writers communicate data clearly and effectively. Its publication offered a much-needed bridge between good quantitative analysis and clear expository writing, using straightforward principles and efficient prose. With this new edition, Jane Miller draws on a decade of additional experience and research, expanding her advice on reaching everyday audiences and further integrating non-print formats.
Miller, an experienced teacher of research methods, statistics, and research writing, opens by introducing a set of basic principles for writing about numbers, then presents a toolkit of techniques that can be applied to prose, tables, charts, and presentations. Throughout the book, she emphasizes flexibility, showing writers that different approaches work for different kinds of data and different types of audiences.
The second edition adds a chapter on writing about numbers for lay audiences, explaining how to avoid overwhelming readers with jargon and technical issues. Also new is an appendix comparing the contents and formats of speeches, research posters, and papers, to teach writers how to create all three types of communication without starting each from scratch. An expanded companion website includes new multimedia resources such as slide shows and podcasts that illustrate the concepts and techniques, along with an updated study guide of problem sets and suggested course extensions.
This continues to be the only book that brings together all the tasks that go into writing about numbers, integrating advice on finding data, calculating  statistics, organizing ideas, designing tables and charts, and writing prose all in one volume. Field-tested with students and professionals alike, this holistic book is the go-to guide for everyone who writes or speaks about numbers.

About this title

Review

"Clearly written, with a checklist at the end of each chapter, invaluable for students. It should be required reading for journalists and politicians." (Economist) "Miller presents a holistic and accessible approach to understanding the issues in communicating [numeric] information by focusing on the entire writing process. Besides providing foundation principles for writing about numbers and exploring tools for displaying figures, the book combines statistical literacy with good writing.... Highly recommended." (Choice)

About the Author

Jane E. Miller is a research professor at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and the School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, as well as the faculty director of Project L/EARN. She is the author of The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, Second Edition, also from the University of Chicago Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 022618577X
• ISBN 13: 9780226185774
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 430