Statistics - lesson 7 | HackIndia Skills

Key point

One honest claim

Your evidence section should help a reader answer one question: what did you learn from your data, and how strong is that learning?

Do not try to sound scientific. Show the data source, chart, insight, and limitation in plain words.

What it contains

For your HackIndia submission, your evidence section needs four parts: dataset or sample, at least one chart, one plain-language insight, and one clear limitation.

This can live in your README, project report, or a separate file like EVIDENCE.md. A public repo makes it easier to check.

Your to-do

Build the section

Do each one yourself, then tap it to tick it off. The ticks are only a checklist for you: they are not marked or scored.

Name the dataset or sample you used, including where it came from and when you collected it.
Add one chart that directly supports your main insight.
Write one sentence that says what the chart suggests, not what it proves.
Add one limitation that tells the reader what your data cannot answer.
Link to the raw data or sample file if you can share it safely.

0 of 5 done

Common mistake

Common overclaim

A weak evidence section says: “Students prefer our feature.” That sounds bigger than the data.

A better claim says: “In our 42-response college survey, more respondents picked reminders than streaks as the most useful feature.” This keeps the claim inside the sample.

Example

Repo file example

Create a small EVIDENCE.md file like this. Keep it short. Judges do not need a full research paper during a hackathon.

# Evidence

## Dataset or sample
We used 42 responses from a Google Form shared with students from our college WhatsApp groups on 18 Jan 2026.
The anonymised CSV is in data/survey_responses.csv.

## Chart
See charts/feature_preference.png.
It shows how many respondents chose each feature as most useful.

## Plain-language insight
In this sample, reminders were chosen most often. This supports making reminders the default feature on the home screen.

## Limitation
This was a small convenience sample from our own college network. It may not represent students from other colleges, working users, or people who did not answer the form.

Tip

Use AI carefully

You can ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude to rewrite your evidence section in simpler language. Paste your draft and ask it to reduce overclaiming.

Check every number, file name, and limitation it returns. AI often makes wording smoother, but it can also make claims sound stronger than your data supports.

Prompt:
Rewrite this evidence section in plain language for a hackathon README.
Do not add new facts.
Keep the claim limited to this sample.
Point out if any sentence overclaims.

[Paste your evidence section here]