http://e-patients.net/archives/2008/11/lies-damn-lies-and-statistics-collective-statistical-illiteracy.html
This site is new to me. I could have written the last line of this article myself:
"I wish medical statistics were always presented in such a concise and clear manner. "
"I wish medical statistics were always presented in such a concise and clear manner. "
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I agree completely. It can be difficult to express statistical information in layman's terms, but that's why there are technical writers. A good technical writer can sort out the technical jargon and convey it in a form more easily understood by folks with a non-technical background. I rely on our techwriters at work to distill the information generated by our engineering staff and make it easily understandable by the target audience (generally end-users who have a high-school education). That being said, since the target audience for most sci/med journals is assumed to have some understanding of statistics, the authors of the research papers probably don't see much need to do so.
[QUOTE=JasmineRain]
That being said, since the target audience for most sci/med journals is assumed to have some understanding of statistics, the authors of the research papers probably don't see much need to do so.
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From the article:
"The report provides evidence that statistical illiteracy: