Data in the MMWR
How learners read (introduction)
Posted to LinkedIn on 2025-11-10. The text below is the post as published.
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How should learners read data-related content in public health reports? I hope to help develop real-world data literacy using some of my experience at CDC.
During my last 10 years at CDC, I called myself a Friend of the MMWR (a title I made up). Editors and sometimes authors would consult me as the senior statistician and data scientist in the center that housed the MMWR. Prompted by an editor in chief, I led a project to develop and propose data-related guidance for MMWR authors, reviewers of MMWR reports, and MMWR scientific editors. I have adapted that review to share it with learners, as a collection of examples of closely reviewing public health reports. The full review is publicly available in HTML (On this site (opens in a new tab)) and PDF (On this site (opens in a new tab)).
We reviewed 56 full reports published 2019-2022, looking at specific practices regarding presentations of data, analytic methods and results, tables and graphics, and interpretation of results. This review is organized around 4 themes:
1. What data are used in the report? What design choices and constraints influence how well those data might address the public health question of interest?
2. What do the data show? What analytic methods did authors use, and how did they present the results of those methods, in narrative, tabular, or graphical form?
3. What do the data signify? How did the authors place data, methods, and results into the context of public health, including discussion and any recommendations?
4. What additional practices could improve the uses and presentation of data in reports?
The next several posts will share each of the 15 subsections from the full review.
Data in the MMWR
- Introduction · How learners read (this post)
- 1 · Sources
- 2 · Methods
- 3 · Description
- 4 · Comparison
- 5 · Adjustment
- 6 · Conclusions
- 7 · Tables
- 8 · Figures
- 9 · Interpretation
- 10 · Impact
- 11 · Context
- 12 · Additional practices