The Report Structure报告结构

Course Text Book: ‘Getting Started with Data Science’ Publisher: IBM Press; 1 edition (Dec 13 2015) Print.
课程教材：《数据科学入门》 出版社：IBM 出版社；第 1 版（2015 年 12 月 13 日）印刷版。

Author: Murtaza Haider  作者：Murtaza Haider

Prescribed Reading: Chapter 3 Pg. 60-62
指定阅读：第 3 章 第 60-62 页

The Report Structure 报告结构

Before starting the analysis, think about the structure of the report. Will it be a brief report of five or fewer pages, or will it be a longer document running more than 100 pages in length? The structure of the report depends on the length of the document. A brief report is more to the point and presents a summary of key findings. A detailed report incrementally builds the argument and contains details about other relevant works, research methodology, data sources, and intermediate findings along with the main results.
在开始分析之前，请思考报告的结构。它将是一份五页或更短的简短报告，还是一份超过 100 页的长篇文档？报告的结构取决于文档的长度。简短报告更加简洁，呈现关键发现的总结。详细报告逐步构建论点，包含其他相关研究、研究方法、数据来源和中间发现以及主要结果等详细信息。

I have reviewed reports by leading consultants including Deloitte and McKinsey. I found that the length of the reports varied depending largely on the purpose of the report. Brief reports were drafted as commentaries on current trends and developments that attracted public or media attention. Detailed and comprehensive reports offered a critical review of the subject matter with extensive data analysis and commentary. Often, detailed reports collected new data or interviewed industry experts to answer the research questions.
我审查了由顶级咨询公司（包括德勤和麦肯锡）提交的报告。我发现报告的长度很大程度上取决于报告的目的。简短报告作为对引起公众或媒体关注的当前趋势和发展的评论而撰写。详细和全面的报告提供了对主题的批判性审查，包括大量的数据分析和评论。通常，详细报告收集了新数据或采访了行业专家来回答研究问题。

Even if you expect the report to be brief, sporting five or fewer pages, I recommend that the deliverable follow a prescribed format including the cover page, table of contents, executive summary, detailed contents, acknowledgments, references, and appendices (if needed).
即使您预期报告篇幅简短，不超过五页，我也建议交付成果遵循规定的格式，包括封面、目录、执行摘要、详细内容、致谢、参考文献和附录（如需要）。

I often find the cover page to be missing in documents. It is not the inexperience of undergraduate students that is reflected in submissions that usually miss the cover page. In fact, doctoral candidates also require an explicit reminder to include an informative cover page. I hasten to mention that the business world sleuths are hardly any better. Just search the Internet for reports and you will find plenty of reports from reputed firms that are missing the cover page.
我经常发现文档中缺少封面页。提交中通常缺少封面页并非反映本科生缺乏经验。事实上，博士生也需要明确的提醒来包含信息丰富的封面页。我急于指出，商界侦探也好不到哪里去。只需在互联网上搜索报告，您会发现许多知名公司提交的报告都缺少封面页。

At a minimum, the cover page should include the title of the report, names of authors, their affiliations, and contacts, the name of the institutional publisher (if any), and the date of publication. I have seen numerous reports missing the date of publication, making it impossible to cite them without the year and month of publication. Also, from a business point of view, authors should make it easier for the reader to reach out to them. Having contact details at the front makes the task easier.
至少，封面应包括报告标题、作者姓名、其所属机构及联系方式、机构出版者名称（如有），以及出版日期。我见过许多报告缺少出版日期，导致无法在未提供年月的情况下引用。此外，从商业角度来看，作者应使读者更容易联系到他们。在封面前提供联系方式会使这项工作变得更容易。

"A table of contents (ToC)" is like a map needed for a trip never taken before. You need to have a sense of the journey before embarking on it. A map provides a visual proxy for the actual travel with details about the landmarks that you will pass by in your trip. The ToC with main headings and lists of tables and figures offers a glimpse of what lies ahead in the document. Never shy away from including a ToC, especially if your document, excluding cover page, table of contents, and references, is five or more pages in length.
"目录（ToC）"就像是一次未曾踏足的旅行所需的地图。在启程之前，你需要对旅程有一个概念。地图为实际旅行提供了视觉代理，详细说明了你在旅行中将要经过的标志物。带有主要标题、表格和图表列表的目录为读者提供了对文档内容的预览。如果文档（不包括封面、目录和参考文献）长度达到五页或以上，切勿犹豫是否包含目录。

Even for a short document, I recommend an "abstract" or an "executive summary". Nothing is more powerful than explaining the crux of your arguments in three paragraphs or less. Of course, for larger documents running a few hundred pages, the executive summary could be longer.
即使是短文档，我也建议添加“摘要”或“执行摘要”。在不超过三段话内解释你的论点要点，没有什么比这更有效了。当然，对于几百页的大型文档，执行摘要可以更长。

An "introductory section" is always helpful in setting up the problem for the reader who might be new to the topic and who might need to be gently introduced to the subject matter before being immersed in intricate details. A good follow-up to the introductory section is a review of available relevant research on the subject matter. The length of the literature review section depends upon how contested the subject matter is. In instances where the vast majority of researchers have concluded in one direction, the literature review could be brief with citations for only the most influential authors on the subject. On the other hand, if the arguments are more nuanced with caveats aplenty, then you must cite the relevant research to offer adequate context before you embark on your analysis. You might use the literature review to highlight gaps in the existing knowledge, which your analysis will try to fill. This is where you formally introduce your research questions and hypothesis.
一个"引言部分"总是有助于为可能对主题不熟悉且需要逐步了解该主题的读者设定问题，在读者深入复杂细节之前，可以对他们进行温和的引导。引言部分的一个良好后续是回顾该主题的相关研究。文献综述部分的长度取决于该主题的争议程度。在大多数研究人员已经得出一个方向的情况下，文献综述可以简短，仅引用该主题上最有影响力的作者。另一方面，如果论点更加复杂且充满保留，那么你必须引用相关研究，以提供足够的背景，然后才能开始你的分析。你可以利用文献综述来突出现有知识的空白，你的分析将试图填补这些空白。这就是你正式介绍你的研究问题和假设的地方。

In the "methodology" section, you introduce the research methods and data sources you used for the analysis. If you have collected new data, explain the data collection exercise in some detail. You will refer to the literature review to bolster your choice for variables, data, and methods and how they will help you answer your research questions.
在"方法论"部分，您需要介绍为分析所使用的研究方法和数据来源。如果您收集了新数据，请详细说明数据收集过程。您将参考文献综述来支持您对变量、数据和方法的选取，并解释它们如何帮助您回答研究问题。

The results section is where you present your empirical findings. Starting with descriptive statistics (see Chapter 4, "Serving Tables") and illustrative graphics (see Chapter S, "Graphic Details" for plots and Chapter 10, "Spatial Data Analytics" for maps), you will move toward formally testing your hypothesis (see Chapter 6, "Hypothetically Speaking").
结果部分是您展示实证发现的地方。从描述性统计（参见第四章"服务餐桌"）和说明性图形（参见第 S 章"图形细节"用于绘图，以及第 10 章"空间数据分析"用于地图）开始，您将逐步过渡到正式检验您的假设（参见第六章"假设性论述"）。

In case you need to run statistical models, you might turn to regression models (see Chapter 7, "Why Tall Parents Don't Have Even Taller Children") or categorical analysis (see Chapters 8, "To Be or Not to Be" and 2., "Categorically Speaking About Categorical Data"). If you are working with time-series data, you can turn to Chapter 11, Doing Serious Time with Time Series. You can also report results from other empirical techniques that fall under the general rubric of data mining (see Chapter 12, "Data Mining for Gold"). Note that many reports in the business sector present results in a more palatable fashion by holding back the statistical details and relying on illustrative graphics to summarize the results.
如果您需要运行统计模型，可以参考回归模型（参见第 7 章《为什么高个子父母不会有更高个子的孩子》）或分类分析（参见第 8 章《是或不是》和第 2 章《关于分类数据的分类讨论》）。如果您正在处理时间序列数据，可以参考第 11 章《与时间序列认真打交道》。您还可以报告其他属于数据挖掘总体范畴的经验技术的结果（参见第 12 章《数据挖掘寻宝》）。请注意，商业领域中的许多报告通过隐藏统计细节并依赖说明性图形来总结结果，以更易于接受的方式呈现结果。

The results section is followed by the discussion section, where you craft your main arguments by building on the results you have presented earlier.
结果部分之后是讨论部分，您通过构建之前呈现的结果来构建您的主要论点。

The "discussion section" is where you rely on the power of narrative to enable numbers to communicate your thesis to your readers. You refer the reader to the research question and the knowledge gaps you identified earlier. You highlight how your findings provide the ultimate missing piece to the puzzle.
"讨论部分"是您依靠叙事的力量，使数字能够向读者传达您的论点的地方。您将读者引至之前确定的研究问题和知识空白。您强调您的发现如何为拼图的最终缺失部分提供了答案。

Of course, not all analytics return a smoking gun. At times, more frequently than I would like to acknowledge, the results provide only a partial answer to the question and that, too, with a long list of caveats.
当然，并非所有分析都能提供确凿的证据。有时，比我愿意承认的更频繁地，结果仅能对问题提供部分答案，而且伴随着长长的免责声明。

In the "conclusion" section, you generalize your specific findings and take on a rather marketing approach to promote your findings so that the reader does not remain stuck in the caveats that you have voluntarily outlined earlier. You might also identify future possible developments in research and applications that could result from your research.
在"结论"部分，你需要概括你的具体发现，并采取一种偏向营销的方式推广你的研究成果，以便读者不会陷入你之前自愿列出的免责声明中。你也可以识别出未来可能的研究和应用发展，这些发展可能源于你的研究。

What remains is housekeeping, including a list of references, the acknowledgment section (acknowledging the support of those who have enabled your work is always good), and "appendices", if needed.
剩下的就是一些收尾工作，包括参考文献列表、致谢部分（感谢那些使你的工作得以实现的人总是很好的）、以及如果需要的话，“附录”。

Have You Done Your Job as a Writer? 你作为作者的工作完成了吗？

As a data scientist, you are expected to do thorough analysis with the appropriate data, deploying the appropriate tools. As a writer, you are responsible for communicating your findings to the readers. Transport Policy, a leading research publication in transportation planning, offers a checklist for authors interested in publishing with the journal. The checklist is a series of questions authors are expected to consider before submitting their manuscripts to the journal. I believe the checklist is useful for budding data scientists and, therefore, I have reproduced it verbatim for their benefit.
作为一名数据科学家，你被期望使用适当的数据进行深入分析，并部署合适的工具。作为一名作家，你有责任向读者传达你的研究成果。《交通政策》（Transport Policy）作为交通规划领域的重要研究出版物，为有意向在该期刊发表论文的作者提供了一份清单。该清单是一系列作者在提交稿件给期刊前需要考虑的问题。我相信这份清单对新兴数据科学家很有用，因此我全文复制它以供他们参考。

• Have you told readers, at the outset, what they might gain by reading your paper?
  你是否一开始就告诉读者阅读你的论文能获得什么？
• Have you made the aim of your work clear?
  你是否明确了你的研究目的？
• Have you explained the significance of your contribution?
  你是否解释了你的贡献的重要性？
• Have you set your work in the appropriate context by giving sufficient background (including a complete set of relevant references) to your work?
  您是否通过提供充分的背景信息（包括一套完整的参考文献）来为您的作品设定了适当的语境？
• Have you addressed the question of practicality and usefulness?
  您是否解决了实用性和实用性的问题？
• Have you identified future developments that might result from your work?
  您是否确定了您的工作可能带来的未来发展方向？
• Have you structured your paper in a clear and logical fashion?
  您是否以清晰和逻辑的方式构建了您的论文？