4 tips for understanding statistics from FiveThirtyEight’s Christie Aschwanden
Tips for numbers-shy journalists on understanding and writing about statistics.
Know Your Research
Tip sheets and explainers to help journalists understand academic research methods; find and recognize high-quality research; investigate scientific misconduct and research errors; and avoid missteps when reporting on new studies and public opinion polls
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How to find an academic research paper
Looking for research on a particular topic? We’ll walk you through the steps we use here at Journalist’s Resource.
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How to gauge the quality of a research study: 13 questions journalists should ask
Asking these questions can help journalists gauge the quality of a research study or report and avoid relying on flawed findings.
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Writing about think tanks and using their research: A cautionary tip sheet
2016 tip sheet that helps journalists navigate the big-money and often partisan world of think tanks.
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10 things we wish we’d known earlier about research: Tips from The Journalist’s Resource
The staff of Journalist’s Resource offers advice on how to find, understand and use academic research to ground a story and fact-check claims.
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Data journalism lesson with crime stats: Parsing close-call numbers
Tip sheet explaining a few basic statistical techniques that can help reporters and editors make decisions when there is some ambiguity — and a borderline “call” — inherent in the numbers.
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Finding trade and tariff data: Tips for journalists
A host of government agencies and multilateral organizations publish trade data. They hold thousands of untold stories. Here are some places to start.
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Mining census data to better cover the health-gap story: A tip sheet from AHCJ
This tip sheet from the Association of Health Care Journalists offers reporters insights on the best ways to mine census data to better cover health-gap stories.
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Polling fundamentals and concepts: An overview for journalists
Basic polling concepts for journalists, including how polls are conducted, polling organizations, and things to watch out for when reporting on polling results.
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Mapping data and visualizing geospatial information: A quick introduction for journalists
2016 tip sheet providing a broad overview of key tools, terminology and applications that can help journalists map data and tell stories that have geospatial dimensions.
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