Making Data Talk: A Workbook - National Cancer Institute

Data selection and presentation. The OPT-In framework, discussed earlier in this workbook and more extensivelyin Making Data Talk: Communicating Public Health Data to the Public, Policy Makers, and the Press, can be used foracute public health situations. Specifically, selection of data will be based on whether or not data are needed to supportthe storyline, the purpose of the communication, and analysis of the audience. Once again, anticipating or learningquestions that audiences may have can be used to guide communication. Audiences may want to know what ishappening, how and/or why it is happening, what it means, what is being done about it and why, and whether or notthe action is working. These audience concerns can help determine which types of data measures to use.Data presentation modalities in acute situations can range from verbally providing one or two numbers to usingmore complex icon displays of absolute risk data. Remember that Chapter 4 of this workbook can be used toidentify data presentations that may be most ideal.After reading this chapter, you should have a general understanding about the communication implicationsfor acute public health situations. For further detail on concepts presented in this chapter, refer to Chapter 6,Communicating Data in Acute Public Health Situations, of Making Data Talk: Communicating Public Health Datato the Public, Policy Makers, and the Press.32