Working with the public and communicating clearly in data and statistics

About this course

Working with public members in data and statistics can help improve the relevance, impact and quality of your work.

Effective public involvement and engagement requires an investment of time and resource to build trust. By responding to concerns and queries about data honestly, being open about what data can and can’t tell us, communicating your work clearly and being attuned to the needs of people you involve and engage, you can work towards building this trust.

PEDRI, the Public Engagement in Data Research Initiative, have created this course to help you build the knowledge, confidence and skills to involve and engage public members effectively.

Grounded in PEDRI’s Good Practice Standards this course provides real world examples, interactive activities and further reading on how to navigate public perceptions of data, communicate complex data topics and adapt your communication style to different audiences.

Learning objectives

By the end of Module 1: working with public members in data and statistics, you should be able to:

• Describe factors that shape public attitudes towards data 

• Recognise common concerns raised by members of the public 

• Apply approaches for responding to questions and concerns respectfully and transparently 

• Explain how to set realistic expectations about involvement and influence 

• Recognise and communicate data limitations to support informed involvement and engagement 

By the end of Module 2: communicating clearly about data research and statistics, you should be able to:

• Create the foundations for effective conversations with the public about data and statistics

• Identify your audience and their needs

• Choose the most appropriate communication formats and methods

• Adapt and tailor your approach

• Intended audience

This course may be relevant to you if you:

• Work with public or sensitive data in research and statistics

• Plan or deliver public involvement and engagement in data research and statistical activities

• Communicate data research and statistics to non-technical audiences

• If you are unfamiliar with public involvement and engagement, we would recommend watching our video series introducing public involvement and engagement in data and statistics.

Contributors/acknowledgements

With many thanks to:

• Megan Barlow Pay
• Caroline Brocklehurst
• Chris Carrigan

• Georgina Ferguson-Glover

• Anwar Gariban

• Matt Howard-Murray

• Simon Jobson

• Shayda Kashef-Tomlins

• Andrew Kell

• Samaira Khan

• Joseph Lam

• Yemi Macaulay

• Clare Matysova

• Laura Mulvey

• Neha Okhandiar

• Katie Oldfield

• Emily Rempel

• Andi Skilton
• Jan Speechley

• Doreen Tembo 
• Piotr Teodorowski
• Fatemeh Torabi
• Basil Udeh
• Stephanie Verissimo
• Shalom Vic-Jumbo
• Rosie Wakeham
• Dan Welsh
• Charlie Wilkinson 
• PEDRI Good Practice Standards Working Group
• PEDRI Communications and Engagement Working Group
• PEDRI Public Advisory Group
• and everyone who attended our focus groups and helped test our module content