30年来我国财经类院校统计学专业本科课程设置的历史回顾与展望

 回顾改革开放以来我国财经类院校统计学专业本科课程设置的历史变迁,由此侧面反映我国统计教育不断发展完善的过程,并结合实际分析财经类院校统计学专业本科课程设置未来的发展方向,提出相关建议,以期促进新形势下我国统计教育水平的不断提高。     

Developing a Career in the Practice of Statistics: The Mentor's Perspective

The W.J. Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting is given by the American Statistical Association to “a distinguished individual who has demonstrated excellence in statistical consulting or developed and contributed new methods, software, or ways of thinking that improve statistical practice in general.” In this article, five of the seven past recipients of this career-capping award share their experiences and perspectives through 10 stepping stones that move a practicing statistician from consultant to collaborator to leader. We highlight the need for mentorship throughout the discussion, and provide direction for statisticians who would like to incorporate this advice into their careers.     

A Well-Rounded Curriculum in Statistics

Reprinted by special permission of “The Iron Age”, this article describes how the statistical method used in control of product quality can be used as a technique for the control of accidents. Preliminary studies of this new approach indicate that it will aid materially in reducing accident rates, the authors declare.     

Content Audit for p-value Principles in Introductory Statistics

ABSTRACT

Longstanding concerns with the role and interpretation of p-values in statistical practice prompted the American Statistical Association (ASA) to make a statement on p-values. The ASA statement spurred a flurry of responses and discussions by statisticians, with many wondering about the steps necessary to expand the adoption of these principles. Introductory statistics classrooms are key locations to introduce and emphasize the nuance related to p-values; in part because they engrain appropriate analysis choices at the earliest stages of statistics education, and also because they reach the broadest group of students. We propose a framework for statistics departments to conduct a content audit for p-value principles in their introductory curriculum. We then discuss the process and results from applying this course audit framework within our own statistics department. We also recommend meeting with client departments as a complement to the course audit. Discussions about analyses and practices common to particular fields can help to evaluate if our service courses are meeting the needs of client departments and to identify what is needed in our introductory courses to combat the misunderstanding and future misuse of p-values.     

Statistics in the High School Curriculum

Recent work, spearheaded by Charles Dunnett (1980a), leads to the conclusion that the Tukey-Kramer (TK) method (popularly known as “Kramer's Method”) is the recommended multiple comparisons procedure for the simultaneous estimation of all pairwise differences of means in an imbalanced one-way ANOVA design with homogeneous variances. Nine other multiple comparisons methods are compared to each other and to the TK method using the criteria of conservativeness, narrowness of confidence intervals, robustness, and ease of use. The degree of superiority of the TK method over these methods, especially over the popular Bonferroni method, is sufficient to warrant recommending its use. Because of the lack of robustness of the TK method in heterogeneous variance cases, other methods are recommended.     

Federal Statistics in a Complex Environment: The Case of the 1980 Census

The taking and the interpretation of something as big and as complicated as the national census is more than an exercise in statistical thinking. It involves other diverse fields such as ethics, epistemology, law, and politics. This article shows that a national census is more akin to so-called ill-structured problems. Unlike well-structured problems, the formulation of an ill-structured problem varies from field to field and from person to person, and the various aspects of an ill-structured problem (i.e., ethics, epistemology, etc.) cannot be clearly separated from one another. The 1980 census is discussed as an ill-structured problem, and a method for treating such problems is presented, within which statistical information is only one component.     

Teaching Elementary Bayesian Statistics with Real Applications in Science

University courses in elementary statistics are usually taught from a frequentist perspective. In this paper I suggest how such courses can be taught using a Bayesian approach, and I indicate why beginning students are well served by a Bayesian course. A principal focus of any good elementary course is the application of statistics to real and important scientific problems. The Bayesian approach fits neatly with a scientific focus. Bayesians take a larger view, and one not limited to data analysis. In particular, the Bayesian approach is subjective, and requires assessing prior probabilities. This requirement forces users to relate current experimental evidence to other available information–-including previous experiments of a related nature, where “related” is judged subjectively. I discuss difficulties faced by instructors and students in elementary Bayesian courses, and provide a sample syllabus for an elementary Bayesian course.     

Some Uses for Distribution-Fitting Software in Teaching Statistics

Statistics courses now make extensive use of menu-driven, interactive computer software. This article presents some insight as to how a new class of PC-based statistical software, called “distribution-fitting” software, can be used in teaching various courses in statistics.     

Teaching Communication in a Statistical Collaboration Course: A Feasible,Project-Based,Multimodal Curriculum

Many schools offer a statistical collaboration curriculum using standard instructional methods such as lectures whereby students are taught to successfully apply their training. The process of building statisticians' collaborative skills and characteristics can be challenging due to logistical issues, time constraints, unstructured research problems, and resources. Instructors vary in their pedagogy and topics taught, and students' experiences vary. There is a dearth of literature describing how to implement a course integrating communication skills, critical thinking, collaboration, and the integration of team members in a learner-centered format. Few courses integrate behavior-based learning using role-playing, video demonstration and feedback, case-based teaching activities, and presentation of basic statistical concepts. We have developed and implemented a two-semester biostatistics collaboration course, of which the purpose is to develop the students' knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to interact effectively with investigators. Our innovative curriculum uses a multimodal, project-based, experiential process to address real-world problems provided by real and/or simulated collaborators while minimizing usual challenges. Rubrics and peer evaluation forms are offered as online supplementary materials. This article describes how a collaboration curriculum focusing on communication and team practice is feasible, how it enhances skill and professionalism, and how it can be implemented at other institutions.     

The Place of Video in New Styles of Teaching and Learning Statistics

Strong movements in both education research and education reform are emphasizing that teaching should encourage student activity rather than simply aim knowledge in the general direction of a student audience. Yet video, at least in its traditional technological forms, is passive. How can teachers make effective use of an apparently ineffective medium? What role can video best play in new multimedia instructional systems? This article reviews research on learning through television in order to make practical suggestions. Specific examples use two widely distributed series, Against All Odds: Inside Statistics and Statistics: Decisions Through Data.     

The Teaching of Statistics in England: Report of the Royal Statistical Society

Some experiences with the use of student projects in experimental design courses at Wisconsin are described. Each student is given the opportunity of selecting a problem of direct interest to him/her, designing and performing an experiment, collecting and analyzing the data. Some ideas with regard to pedagogy and the use of simulated data are also discussed.     

成人院校非统计专业统计学教学改革的思考

成人高等教育作为我国高等教育的重要组成部分,其各门学科的教学改革除了应遵循高等教育改革的一般规律与要求外,还应有自身的特殊规律与要求。本文通过对其特殊性的理性分析,提出成人非统计专业统计学教学应加强统计观念教育、统计法律与道德教育,并加强统计基本理论与方法的教学与改革。     

A Survey of the Teaching of Statistics in M.B.A. Programs

A survey of business schools was conducted to obtain information about the current state of the teaching of business statistics to students enrolled in M.B.A. degree programs. The survey was undertaken for and presented at a June 1986 conference on “Making Statistics More Effective in Schools of Business,” held at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Information was elicited concerning both the required statistics sequence and elective statistics courses for M.B.A. students, as well as computer usage in these courses. This article summarizes the information obtained from the survey.     

On Test Statistics in Profile Analysis with High-dimensional Data

We consider profile analysis with unequal covariance matrices under multivariate normality. In particular, we discuss this problem for high-dimensional data where the dimension is larger than the sample size. We propose three test statistics based on Bennett’s (1951) transformation and the Dempster trace criterion proposed by Dempster (1958 Dempster, A.P. (1958). A high dimensional two samples significance test. Annals of Mathematical Statistics 29:995–1010.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). We derive the null distributions as well as the nonnull distributions of the test statistics. Finally, in order to investigate the accuracy of the proposed statistics, we perform Monte Carlo simulations for some selected values of parameters.     

Statistics for a New Test of Discordance in Circular Data

This article considers the derivation of approximate distributions for two types of statistics that can be used in developing new tests of discordance in circular samples from the von Mises distribution. An alternative test of discordance is proposed based on the circular distance between sample points. The advantage of the test is that it allows users to detect possible outliers in both univariate and bivariate circular data. For illustration, the test is applied to two real circular data sets.     

Maximizing a Family of Optimal Statistics over a Nuisance Parameter with Applications to Genetic Data Analysis

In this article, a simple algorithm is used to maximize a family of optimal statistics for hypothesis testing with a nuisance parameter not defined under the null hypothesis. This arises from genetic linkage and association studies and other hypothesis testing problems. The maximum of optimal statistics over the nuisance parameter space can be used as a robust test in this situation. Here, we use the maximum and minimum statistics to examine the sensitivity of testing results with respect to the unknown nuisance parameter. Examples from genetic linkage analysis using affected sub pairs and a candidate-gene association study in case-parents trio design are studied.     

Providing Consulting Experiences Through Role Playing in a Graduate Statistics Course

An effective method for improving the communication skills of graduate students in statistics and biostatistics is to provide consultations with non‐statistical researchers. Unfortunately, those experiences can be difficult to arrange or occur too infrequently to be reliable. The current study sought to help students develop both written and oral communication skills within an existing graduate biostatistics course by having students partake in role‐playing consultations. Though the class size was small, the students felt these activities helped improve their oral and written communication skills, and made them more aware of a biostatistician's role in consulting. There was also modest improvement in the students perceived function as a consulting biostatistician. Simulated consultations can be an effective educational tool for promoting the development of soft skills necessary for developing successful statisticians, can be implemented in existing courses, and do not require reliance upon external collaborators. Embedding these types of exercises within an existing curriculum can also be a cost‐effective alternative for programs that do not have formal consulting training.     

Outliers and Patterns of Outliers in Contingency Tables with Algebraic Statistics

Abstract. In this paper, we provide a definition of pattern of outliers in contingency tables within a model‐based framework. In particular, we make use of log‐linear models and exact goodness‐of‐fit tests to specify the notions of outlier and pattern of outliers. The language and some techniques from Algebraic Statistics are essential tools to make the definition clear and easily applicable. We also analyse several numerical examples to show how to use our definitions.     

A Simple New Algorithm for Quadratic Programming with Applications in Statistics

Problems involving estimation and inference under linear inequality constraints arise often in statistical modeling. In this article, we propose an algorithm to solve the quadratic programming problem of minimizing for positive definite Q, where is constrained to be in a closed polyhedral convex cone , and the m × n matrix is not necessarily full row rank. The three-step algorithm is intuitive and easy to code. Code is provided in the R programming language.