Introduction to Statistics Through Resampling Methods and R, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10

Reporting Your Findings

In this chapter, we assume you have just completed an analysis of your own or someone else’s research and now wish to issue a report on the overall findings. You’ll learn what to report and how to go about reporting it with particular emphasis on the statistical aspects of data collection and analysis.

One of the most common misrepresentations in scientific work is the scientific paper itself. It presents a mythical reconstruction of what actually happened. All mistaken ideas, false starts, badly designed experiments, and incorrect calculations are omitted. The paper presents the research as if it had been carefully thought out, planned, and executed according to a neat, rigorous process, for example, one involving testing of a hypothesis. The misrepresentation of the scientific paper is the most formal aspect of the misrepresentation of science as an orderly process based on a clearly defined method.

Brian Martin

10.1 WHAT TO REPORT

Reportable elements include all of the following:

• Study objectives
• Hypotheses
• Power and sample size calculations
• Data collection methods
• Validation methods
• Data summaries
• Details of the statistical analysis
• Sources of missing data
• Exceptions.

10.1.1 Study Objectives

If you are contributing to the design or analysis of someone else’s research efforts, a restatement of the objectives is an essential first step. This ensures that you and the principal investigator are on the same page. This may be necessary in order ...