Data storytelling is not storytelling with data: A framework for storytelling in science communication and data journalism

Abstract

Storytelling teaches. All good storytelling is good teaching. Storytelling is a form of teaching and learning because it asks the readers or listeners to replace well-established explanations that are considered facts with new, unexpected ones. We always learn new things when listening to good stories. Good stories do so by violating expectations and surprising the listener or the reader. Surprise breeds suspense, which generates engagement, which is a catalyst for learning–even truer for scientific and data-driven stories. In this paper we show how understanding the nature of good stories by focusing on the novelty they introduce and assumption they violate helps us to do effective scientific work and tell excellent data-based stories. We start by providing definitions of “story,” “storytelling,” and “good stories.” We then outline a methodology for building stories and provide an illustrative example of an effective data-based story from the history of medicine.