Writing Assignment: Numerical Data Analysis

Module by: The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication

Summary: In this assignment from a writing course for upper-level bioscience majors at Rice University, students produce figures and accompanying explanatory text from a set of numerical data. The figures are designed for two distinct audiences, one inside the discipline and one from outside the discipline. Students are already familiar with the disease (Rett Syndrome) and molecule (MeCP2) described in the assignment through lectures and discussions in class.

Overview

For this assignment you will design a figure and write a short explanation of numerical data for two distinct audiences, conference attendees and English-speaking primary care physicians in Russia.

Purpose

As a scientist, you will often select, design, and write about data in creating reports, manuscripts, presentations, and posters. Doing so allows you to communicate findings to your professional colleagues or the general public. This data analysis assignment enables you to practice these skills.

Data

Imagine that you are a researcher studying the frequency of MeCP2 mutations in a population in Russia. You obtained blood samples from 50 patients seen in clinics between the years 2005-2008. You collected DNA and sequenced the MeCP2 gene in each sample. Your raw data are presented in Table 1. Table 2 summarizes the conventions for representing mutations to help you interpret Table 1.

Table 1. MeCP2 mutations

Nucleotide #	DNA code change	Amino acid change	Frequency
258	Δ2 Δ 2	86 F/S	2
301	C301A	P101T	2
419	C419T	A140V	10
455	C455G	P152R	11
468	C468A	D156E	3
622	C622T	Q208X	2
677	InsA	225 F/S	2
730	C730T	Q244X	1
802	C802T	R268W	2
964	C964G	P322A	1
1026	InsG	315 F/S	1
1120	Δ69 Δ 69	Δ374-396 Δ 374-396	1
1163	Δ26 Δ 26	387 F/S	6
1196	C1196T	P399L	1
1216	C1216T	Q406X	3
1282	G1282A	G428S	2

Table 2. Types of mutations

Mutation type	Change	Example of convention for DNA code display	Example of convention for protein code display
Missense	Incorrect nucleotide—still codes for an amino acid	G6C (G at position 6 mutated to G)	W2C (mutation results in change of W at position 2 to C)
Nonsense	Incorrect nucleotide—codes for a stop codon	G6A (G at position 6 mutated to A)	W2X (mutation results in change of W at position 2 to stop codon)
Deletion(referring to the amino acid)	Nucleotide(s) deleted in multiples of three	Δ6 Δ 6 (deletion of 6 nucleotides at unspecified location)	Δ2-3 Δ 2-3 (deletion of the 2nd and 3rd amino acids)
Insertion(referring to the amino acid)	Nucleotide(s) inserted in multiples of three	InsGAT (insertion of nucleotides G,A, and T at unspecified location)	2 InsD (insertion of D at position 2)
Frameshift	Deleted or inserted nucleotides shift the reading frame	Δ4InsG Δ 4InsG (convention is similar to insertion or deletion)	3 F/S 3 F/S(frame is shifted beginning at position 3)

Assignment directions.

This two-part assignment enables you to visually represent numerical data in two different ways for two different audiences—an audience in your discipline and an audience outside your discipline. Read each situation and design a figure for each. You are responsible for choosing the type of figure and its content—you must decide how to best represent the data for each audience and situation.

Part A: Representing Data to Conference Attendees

Situation. You will be showing these data at a conference on neurodevelopmental disorders. Assume that those who attend your presentation are knowledgeable about your area of research. You would like to present these data in a visual that will clearly communicate the following:

location of the mutation on the gene or the protein (not both)
mutation type (missense, nonsense, frameshift, or deletion)
frequency (number of patients identified with that mutation)

Present these data in a figure that will illustrate the above information. Write a short (<250 word) discussion of the results and your conclusions from the data.

Part B. Representing Data to Primary Care Physicians

Situation. You are providing a figure for a short report that is being written for English-speaking primary care physicians treating Rett Syndrome patients in Russia. You would like them to see a figure that shows the types of mutations, from most common to least common. Design a figure that will simply and effectively communicate this information. Your audience will rely on the figure you create, so you do not need to write a discussion of these (Part B) results.

Evaluation

Here are the criteria that will be used to assess the data analysis assignment:

Communicated your data analysis accurately and completely using visual and verbal means
Designed and wrote up your data professionally and ethically (that is, without distortion)
Adhered to design conventions for figures
Adhered to sentence-level correctness (e.g., grammar, punctuation, usage, and so on)

Comments, questions, feedback, criticisms?