In my (Dex Whittinghill) tenure as editor for the Datasets and Stories column of JSE, I have realized that a little clarification of the column might be in order. In addition, recent submissions have led the JSE editor John Gabrosek and me to institute two changes in the format for submissions, one to add more structure/uniformity, and one to expand the field of potential submissions. We believe the changes will improve the readability of the articles and expand the audience. Potential authors should start by reading these guidelines and then the paper by Lock and Arnold (1993) (from which some quotes are drawn in the discussion below).

A 'dataset' submission is mostly that, a dataset to be added to the Data Archive. The submission must include a 'flat' ASCII text file with the data, and an ASCII 'doc' file, a template for which is included in Lock and Arnold (1993). Note that the 'doc' file includes details of the format of the text file, such as variable names and units of measurement. The 'doc' file also includes "sufficient narrative to put the data in context, and suggest some interesting questions to pursue." [An Office Excel 97-2003 file for the data can be included in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the ASCII data file.]

A 'dataset and story' submission includes the submission of the data file and the 'doc' file as described under the 'dataset' submission, as well as a significant "expansion of the narrative that is found in the 'doc' file." This expansion is a submission to JSE, and "should follow the general guidelines for any JSE article and will be subject to a similar review process." For more details see Lock and Arnold (1993).

A little more structure. From the Lock and Arnold (1993) article I want to quote the following:

"Authors are encouraged to emphasize the "story" aspect of this section by elaborating on the circumstances and questions which led to the collection of the data. We also encourage descriptions of creative ways the data might be used in teaching statistics, particularly those that are based on actual experiences."

Because the implication of the quote is that a Datasets and Stories article was originally conceived to include "teaching notes" to help the reader see how the data set can be used in their class, and because inclusion of such material will help potential authors write an article beneficial to our readers, we are formalizing the concept of "teaching notes."

Hereafter, new Datasets and Stories submissions must include "teaching notes" that walk the reader through how to use the data set (or simulation/program; see below) in the classroom. These notes could include recommendations such as Helpful Hints, Potential Pitfalls, and Alternative Applications from the author's use of the data (or simulation/program) in his or her own teaching. These teaching notes should be incorporated throughout the paper at the place where the teacher would apply them, and should be indented and italicized. Example teaching notes are:

Helpful Hint: I have found that the best way to utilize the applet is to first have the students perform a small-scale tactile simulation of the activity using playing cards.

Potential Pitfall: When you do this you might find that students tend to confuse the standard deviation of the sample data with the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Alternative Application: Although I have used the prices of used sedans for my activity, you could substitute the prices of used cross-over/utility-vehicles.

[While we believe that these three forms of notes cover the range of potential teaching notes, creative authors could convince us differently. Authors that cannot envision substantial teaching notes probably do not have a potential dataset and story article, but only a dataset. The rationale for indenting teaching notes is that a reader can initially read the article without the notes, and then if he or she believes that the data set will be useful can reread the article taking the notes into account.]

Expanding the field of submissions. Recently JSE received two articles that looked like they would be interesting to JSE readers, but they did not quite fit in with the Datasets and Stories column or the more general articles found in JSE. The first used a data set, but it was not a static data set. The second used a data set, but the primary focus of the paper was Monte Carlo simulation. Therefore we have decided to make the following, expansive changes in our guidelines. As these are new they are somewhat fluid, and subsequent submissions may cause us to refine the changes.

A. Articles based on a "continuously changing" data set. Most Datasets and Stories data sets have been fixed and unchanging. This allows readers to investigate the data sets and follow the discussion given by the author. However, some data are not static over time. (For example, weather data, ozone data, and economic data that is readily available on the web.) To bridge the gap between the changing data set and the Dataset and Story submission the author should take a snapshot of the data at a point in time and analyze this cross-section of the data. In parallel with the analysis of the cross-section of the data the author could discuss the changing nature of the data by keeping a running commentary on the potential changes that might arise through the use of "teaching notes" as discussed above.

B. Articles based primarily on computing and/or simulation. Authors of articles based primarily on computing and/or simulation should follow the guidelines below in addition to the general guidelines described above for contributors to the Datasets and Stories column in JSE:

1. Program code needs to be included in a readily accessible format such as SAS or JMP or SAS Macro, Minitab, R, S, etc. Including multiple formats for the code is strongly encouraged. The code should be included in an appendix to the paper. [Rationale: The Datasets and Stories section of JSE is meant to provide materials that readers can use in the classroom. Without the code the simulations and programs cannot be easily used by readers.]

2. Any applets or other interactive computing features should be readily available online. A link should be included to the interactive computing feature with illustration (perhaps through screen captures) of the computing feature in use.

3. The paper needs to include the data used by the author to illustrate the simulation/program. Ideally the author would provide code using the data set that is used for illustration in the paper. Remember that the section is called Datasets and Stories, so the data must play a central role in the paper and, thus, be readily available to the readers.

4. The paper must include "teaching notes" that walk the reader through how to use the simulation/program in the classroom. Refer to the discussion above for how to incorporate these "teaching notes."

5. Should the simulation/programming give rise to intermediate datasets and/or files, a sufficient subset of the intermediate datasets and/or files should be included as well. [Rationale: Analogous to the rationale for #1, inclusion of intermediate data sets will provide the reader with "touchstones" to verify his or her understanding.]

JSE Copyright and Usage Policy

Unlike other American Statistical Association journals, the Journal of Statistics Education (JSE) does not require authors to transfer copyright for the published material to JSE. Please click on the Guidelines for Readers/Data Users link in the menu bar at the left to access the policy.  

Department Editor