This document provides an overview and introduction to a six-part lesson on finding and communicating stories from data. The introduction outlines the topics that will be covered in each of the six lessons. It then discusses frameworks for systematically finding stories in data and defines some key aspects of frameworks, such as how to frame problems and preferred methods for analyzing data and extracting stories. The document also covers defining the problem, establishing existing context, and introduces a three-step process for finding, creating and communicating the story.

1. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
Lesson
1
of
6
Overview
and
Introduc-on
Ray
Poynter
February
2016

2. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Introduc-on
• An
Introduc-on
and
Overview
-­‐
Feb
23
• Working
with
Qualita9ve
Informa9on
–
Apr
5
• Working
with
Quan9ta9ve
Informa9on
-­‐
May
24
• Working
with
mul9ple
streams
&
big
data
-­‐
July
5
• U9lizing
visualiza9on
–
Sep
13
• Presen9ng
the
story
-­‐
Nov
8

3. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Why?

4. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Movie
Popcorn
Center
for
Science
in
the
Public
Interest
(CSPI)
In
1994
it
revealed
Medium
bag
of
popcorn
=
37
grams
saturated
fat
USDA
(United
Stated
Department
for
Agriculture)
Recommended
maximum
=
20
grams
Made
to
S9ck
–
Chip
and
Dan
Heath
20
37
0
20
40
Grams
Fat
USDA
Popcorn

5. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Robust
Simplifica-on
Movie
Popcorn
Data
About
double
your
daily
fat
allowance
Visual
Story
A
day’s
worth
of
unhealthy
food

6. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Movie
Popcorn
What
was
leN
out?
• Other
things
in
the
popcorn,
e.g.
salt
&
sugar
• Large
bag
of
popcorn
• Other
foods
eaten
in
movie
theatres
• Other
comparators,
e.g.
normal
daily
meal

7. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Movie
Popcorn
Think,
Feel,
Do
• Think,
the
‘facts’:
– Popcorn
has
saturated
fat,
saturated
fat
is
not
good,
there
are
limits
• Feel
– 3
junk
meals
in
one
day
is
dumb/gross
• Do
– When
you
are
about
to
buy
popcorn,
think
about
all
that
fat,
feel
a
bit
sick/scared,
do
trade
down
or
out

8. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016

9. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
3
Steps
1. Find
the
story
2. Create
the
story
3. Communicate
the
story

10. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Created
by
Dudolf
hdps://goo.gl/uwB4Ru
Where
is
the
Panda?

11. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Finding
the
Story
Intui-ve
Genius
– Great
at
finding
the
message
in
the
data,
just
seems
to
play
around
with
the
numbers
and
out
pops
the
story
– Usually
bad
at
training
others
and
ohen
poor
at
working
in
teams
Systema-c
approach
– Frameworks

12. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Frameworks
Most
of
the
teams
that
reliably
produce
good
analysis
and
useful
stories
use
frameworks
– Individuals
are
less
dependent
on
frameworks
Elements
of
frameworks
– How
to
frame
the
problem
– Linking
the
project
to
a
wider
context
– A
standard
method
of
organising
the
data
(qual
and
quant)
– Systema9c
methods
of
analysing
data
– A
preferred
method
for
extrac9ng
the
story
and
linking
it
to
the
wider
context

13. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Define
the
Problem
“A
problem
defined
is
a
problem
half-­‐solved”
Sources
of
informa9on:
– The
request
for
a
study
– The
proposal
– Discussions
between
sponsor,
insight
team
and
supplier
• What
is
the
background
to
the
project?
• What
would
success
look
like?
• What
ac9ons
should
follow
from
the
research?
• What
do
people
think
the
results
are
going
to
be?
(Or,
what
are
the
prevalent
hypotheses?)
Smith
&
Fletcher,
2004

14. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Establish
What
is
Already
Known
• The
frameworks
approach
avoids
focusing
on
just
the
current
research
project
• The
analysis,
the
validity,
and
the
story
need
to
blend
research
with
the
wider
context
• The
context
is
a
web
of
exis9ng
knowledge:
– Within
your
organisa9on
– Within
the
agency/supplier
– In
the
public
realm

15. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Who
is
the
project
for?
_________________
What
is
the
business
issue/problem
that
is
being
addressed?
__________________________________________________
What
does
the
business
want
to
do,
once
it
has
addressed
this
issue?
______________________________________________________
What
do
we
already
know?
Item
Held
by:
Descrip-on
1
______
______
______________
2
______
______
______________
3
______
______
______________
Assump-ons
and
predic-ons
Who
What
1.
______
______
2.
______
______
Simplified

16. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Assembling
the
Evidence
• Quan9ta9ve
– Standardize?
Missing
Data?
Indexing?
Re-­‐basing?
• Qualita9ve
– Transla9ons?
Transcripts?
Notes?
• The
nature
of
the
sources
– Credibility?
Bias?
Interac9ons?

17. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Is
My
Data
Right?
We
see
paderns,
even
when
they
are
not
there.
Image
from
Viking
I,
1976
Mars
–
led
to
theories
of
intelligent
life.

18. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Spurious
Correla-ons

19. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Normalizing
by
Growth
Paerns
Forbes:
hdp://bit.ly/NewMR_208

20. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Different
Perspec-ves

21. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Findings
Need
a
Comparator
RFID

22. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Finding
and
communica-ng
the
story
in
health
data

23. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Bad
news
for
men
in
Eastern
Europe
Eurostat
-­‐
hdp://goo.gl/r2q526
Amenable
Deaths
Per
100000
of
popula9on
-­‐
2012

24. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Over
100,000
Avoidable
Deaths
in
England
and
Wales
114,740
393,050
2013,
England
and
Wales
506,790
Deaths
Avoidable
Other
UK
Office
for
Na9onal
Sta9s9cs:
hdp://goo.gl/oJYMgo

25. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
USA
and
Smoking
Leading
cause
preventable
deaths
hdp://www.cdc.gov/healthreport/publica9ons/compendium.pdf

26. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Embedding
Frameworks
• Establish
your
framework
• Share
it
with
colleagues
• Share
it
with
suppliers
• New
projects
designed
to
produce
inputs
that
work
well
with
the
framework
you
are
using

27. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Finding
the
Story
1. Know
what
the
ques9on
is.
Have
an
idea
of
what
success
looks
like.
2. What
is
the
big
story?
– What
do
most
people
do?
Why
do
most
people
do
it?
3. What
are
the
relevant
excep9ons?
4. Determine
how
the
message
in
the
data
answers
the
business
ques9on
and
crah
that
as
a
story.

28. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Find
the
Total
Picture
First
Then
the
relevant
detail
Quant
• Look
at
the
Total
Column
• Look
for
big
numbers
and
big
paderns
• What
is
the
big
picture?
• This
will
frame
the
detail
Qual
• Read
the
transcripts
• Create
notes
and
memos
• How
does
it
compare
with
what
is
already
known
• What
are
the
main
messages
In
the
context
of
the
Business
Ques9on

29. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
The
Tenuous
Link
Between
Finding
the
Story
and
Telling
the
Story
• In
finding
the
story
we
have
mul9ple
data
sources
• We
have
differing
degrees
of
confidence
in
those
sources
– A
conjoint
study
with
consul9ng
surgeons
might
be
our
best
source
for
finding
the
story
• The
best
way
to
convey
the
story
does
not
have
to
rest
on
the
‘best’
data
– A
vox
pop
video
with
a
customer
might
be
a
poor
way
to
find
the
story,
but
it
can
be
a
great
way
to
tell
the
story

30. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
The
Lead
Nora
Ephron
When
Harry
Met
Sally
Sleepless
in
Sea8le
1st
Day
in
Journalism
School
5
Ws
(Who,
What,
When,
Where
&
Why?)
Asked
to
write
the
Lead
for
the
school
newspaper
“The
en9re
school
faculty
will
travel
to
Sacramento
next
Thursday
for
a
colloquium
in
new
teaching
methods.
Among
the
speakers
will
be
anthropologist
Margaret
Mead,
college
president
Dr.
Robert
Maynard
Hutchins,
and
California
Governor
Edmund
Brown.”
All
the
students
wrote
about
the
5Ws
–
good,
but
not
right.
The
Lead?
No
school
next
Thursday!

31. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
The
Cartographer
and
the
Journalist

32. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
What
are
the
key
findings?
1. Link
to
the
project
objec9ves
2. ‘Need
to
know’
not
‘nice
to
know’
3. Supported
by
paderns
or
themes
in
the
data
– Not
just
a
single
data
point
4. Clear
findings
– Re-­‐work
the
data
groupings
to
make
the
findings
clearer

33. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Developing
your
narra-ve
theme
• Select
your
primary
axis
• This
is
the
elevator
pitch
• Use
a
structure
that
works
with
the
audience
• Typical
USA
structure
– The
main
finding
was
X,
so
we
recommend
Y
&
Z
– Now,
let’s
tells
you
why
it
is
X,
and
why
are
it’s
Y
&
Z
– But
it
can
be
different
in
different
places

34. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Good
news?
Bad
news?
Hypotheses
and
beliefs
crucial
• Good
news
• Good
news
with
warnings
• Bad
news,
but
it
can
be
ameliorated
• Bad
news
“It’s
good
and
bad”
means
you
don’t
understand
the
problem,
the
data,
or
both

35. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Hans
Rosling
The
impact
of
religion
on
the
number
of
babies
per
woman
hdps://goo.gl/nwZq29

36. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Some
people
say
Popula9on
will
keep
growing
Because
some
religions
stop
women
from
having
few
babies
Is
it
true?

37. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Had
to
crate
their
own
map.
Size
of
bubbles
=
popula9on

38. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
In
1960
you
had
to
be
rich
and
Chris9an
to
have
few
babies
per
woman
&
be
rich
–
or
be
Japan
But
in
La9n
America
and
Africa,
many
countries
were
Chris9an,
poor,
and
had
many
babies
per
woman

39. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Uses
9me
as
narra9ve
axis.
Showing
number
of
babies
falling,
across
religions,
irrespec9ve
of
wealth.

40. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
By
2010
about
80%
of
people
live
in
countries
with
2
babies
per
woman.
All
Eastern
religion
countries
about
2
babies
per
woman.
Propor9on
of
Chris9an
and
Islam
majority
countries
similar.
You
can
be
poor
and
have
few
babies,
but
not
VERY
poor.

41. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Hans
Rosling
hdps://goo.gl/nwZq29
Watch
the
whole
video
Plenty
more
points
made
What
Rosling
did
to
get
to
his
story?
How
does
the
story
work?
What
did
he
leave
out
and
why?

42. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
The
Big
Picture
• Frameworks
for
reliable
/
effec9ve
stories
• Define
the
problem
• Find
the
main
message
• Remove
anything
that
is
not
the
story
• Is
it
good
or
bad
news,
confirming
or
challenging
expecta9ons/beliefs
• Engaging,
memorable,
simple
story

43. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Schedule
• An
Introduc-on
and
Overview
-­‐
Feb
23
• Working
with
Qualita9ve
Informa9on
–
Apr
5
• Working
with
Quan9ta9ve
Informa9on
-­‐
May
24
• Working
with
mul9ple
streams
&
big
data
-­‐
July
5
• U9lizing
visualiza9on
–
Sep
13
• Presen9ng
the
story
-­‐
Nov
8

44. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Further
Reading
Published
by
Wiley,
2004

45. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Video
Gegng
to
Great
Research
Stories
hdp://newmr.org/play-­‐again/fes9val-­‐of-­‐newmr-­‐atlan9c-­‐monday/

46. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Thank
You!
Follow
me
on
Twier
@RayPoynter
Or
sign-­‐up
to
receive
our
weekly
mailing
at
hp://NewMR.org

47. Finding
and
Communica-ng
the
Story
–
Lesson
1
of
6
Ray
Poynter,
2016
Q
&
A
Ray
Poynter
The
Future
Place