The Chicago guide to writing about numbers / Jane E. Miller.

Author
Miller, Jane E. (Jane Elizabeth), 1959- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, ©2004.
Description
xiv, 304 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Engineering Library - Stacks T11 .M485 2004 Browse related items Request
    Stokes Library - Wallace Hall (SPIA) T11 .M485 2004 Browse related items Request
      Stokes Library - Wallace Hall (SPR) T11 .M485 2004 Browse related items Request
        Stokes Library - Writing Shelf. Wallace Hall T11 .M485 2004 Browse related items Request

          Details

          Subject(s)
          Library of Congress genre(s)
          Series
          Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing [More in this series]
          Summary note
          People who work well with numbers are often stymied by how to write about them. Those who don't often work with numbers have an even tougher time trying to put them into words. For instance, scientists and policy analysts learn to calculate and interpret numbers, but not how to explain them to a general audience. Students learn about gathering data and using statistical techniques, but not how to write about their results. And readers struggling to make sense of numerical information are often left confused by poor explanations. Many books elucidate the art of writing, but books on writing about numbers are nonexistent. Until now. Here, Jane Miller, an experienced research methods and statistics teacher, gives writers the assistance they need. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers helps bridge the gap between good quantitative analysis and good expository writing. Field-tested with students and professionals alike, this book shows writers how to think about numbers during the writing process. Miller begins with twelve principles that lay the foundation for good writing about numbers. Conveyed with real-world examples, these principles help writers assess and evaluate the best strategy for representing numbers. She next discusses the fundamental tools for presenting numbers -- tables, charts, examples, and analogies -- and shows how to use these tools within the framework of the twelve principles to organize and write a complete paper. By providing basic guidelines for successfully using numbers in prose, The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers will help writers of all kinds clearly and effectively tell a story with numbers as evidence. Readers and writers everywhere will be grateful for this much-needed mentor.
          Bibliographic references
          Includes bibliographical references (p. [275]-277) and index.
          Contents
          • Why write about numbers?
          • Principles. Seven basic principles ; Causality, statistical significance, and substantive significance ; Technical but important : five more basic principles
          • Tools. Types of quantitative comparison ; Creating effective tables ; Creating effective charts ; Choosing effective examples and analogies
          • Putting it all together. Writing about distributions and associations ; Writing about data and methods ; Writing introductions, results, and conclusions ; Speaking about numbers
          • Appendix A. Implementing "generalization, example, exceptions" (GEE).
          ISBN
          • 0226526305 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
          • 9780226526300 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
          • 0226526313 ((pbk. ; : alk. paper))
          • 9780226526317 ((pbk. ; : alk. paper))
          LCCN
          2004000204
          OCLC
          54096293
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