A message nobody can use
An analyst sends the head teacher this line: "The mean basket spend, stratified by year group, is 2.48 with a variance of 0.6."
The head teacher wanted to know if the new fruit stall pays for itself. The line does not say.
A message needs a purpose, the right size and the right level of words.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | The reason you are sending the message. | To show if the fruit stall pays for itself |
| Intended use | What the reader will do with it. | Decide whether to keep the stall |
| Expected outcome | The change you hope the message causes. | A yes or no on the stall by Friday |
| Objective | A goal the business has set. | Raise healthy food sales this term |
| Complexity | How hard the message is to understand. | Many technical words make it complex |
| Jargon | Special words that only people in one field know. | Variance, outlier |
| Numeric data | Data made of numbers you can add or compare. | Sales in pounds |
| Text data | Data made of words, such as comments. | Survey answers |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can say the purpose of a message, set its size and complexity, and choose how to show numbers and text.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Purpose: telling the story of the data
Data alone is not a message. The purpose is often to tell the story of the data: what happened, why, and what to do next.
Ask three questions. What is the intended use? What outcome do I expect? Which objective does it link back to?
Three messages and their purpose
| Message | Intended use | Expected outcome | Linked objective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit stall sales this term | Decide to keep or stop the stall | A decision by Friday | Raise healthy food sales |
| Queue times at the till | Plan how many staff are needed | A new rota | Serve every student in 10 minutes |
| Survey comments on menus | Choose new dishes | Three new dishes on the menu | Raise the number of lunches sold |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: purpose
Have a go
Check: purpose
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.