The Big Tent for Statistics: Mentoring Required

Research supports the positive impact of mentoring on both job and career satisfaction. Recognizing this, the American Statistical Association (ASA) has started a new mission-centered focus on mentoring. This article describes the development and implementation of meeting-based mentoring programs at four ASA conferences in 2014 and 2015. We present results of the feedback evaluations from program participants and use them to motivate recommendations for creating and running conference mentoring programs and overcoming common challenges. These recommendations are applicable to creating and running conference mentoring programs in any field. We conclude with a discussion of the opportunities for the ASA to augment its mentoring programs in support of the professional development of its members.     

Challenges and Opportunities for Statistics and Statistical Education: Looking Back,Looking Forward

The 175th anniversary of the ASA provides an opportunity to look back into the past and peer into the future. What led our forebears to found the association? What commonalities do we still see? What insights might we glean from their experiences and observations? I will use the anniversary as a chance to reflect on where we are now and where we are headed in terms of statistical education amidst the growth of data science. Statistics is the science of learning from data. By fostering more multivariable thinking, building data-related skills, and developing simulation-based problem solving, we can help to ensure that statisticians are fully engaged in data science and the analysis of the abundance of data now available to us.     

Leadership in Statistics: Increasing Our Value and Visibility

Scientists in every discipline are generating data more rapidly than ever before, resulting in an increasing need for statistical skills at a time when there is decreasing visibility for the field of statistics. Resolving this paradox requires stronger statistical leadership to guide multidisciplinary teams in the design and planning of scientific research and making decisions based on data. It requires more effective communication to nonstatisticians of the value of statistics in using data to answer questions, predict outcomes, and support decision-making in the face of uncertainty. It also requires a greater appreciation of the unique capabilities of alternative quantitative disciplines such as machine learning, data science, pharmacometrics, and bioinformatics which represent an opportunity for statisticians to achieve greater impact through collaborative partnership. Examples taken from pharmaceutical drug development are used to illustrate the concept of statistical leadership in a collaborative multidisciplinary team environment.     

Challenges and Opportunities for Statistics in the Next 25 Years

Beginning with the 75th Anniversary of the American Statistical Association in 1914 and for subsequent 25-year celebrations, distinguished members of the association have addressed the future of statistics. A four-person panel engaged in the same exercise during the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings for the ASA's dodransbicentennial. The panel identified a variety of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the profession in the next quarter of a century. This article highlights some of the discussion that took place.     

The Challenges in Developing an Online Applied Statistics Program: Lessons Learned at Penn State University

Numerous professional fields have an increasing need for individuals trained in statistics and other quantitative analysis techniques. Today there exists great potential to fulfill this need by providing opportunities through online learning. However, to provide a high-quality education for returning adult professionals seeking advanced degrees in applied statistics online, many challenges need to be overcome. Based on our experience developing Penn State University’s online program in applied statistics, we discuss the evolution of the program’s curriculum, recruitment and development of online faculty, and meeting the requirements of students as important areas that require consideration in the development of an online program. We also highlight program evaluation strategies employed to ensure innovation and improvement in online education as cornerstones to a program’s success.     

Leading beyond regulatory approval: Opportunities for statisticians to optimize evidence generation and impact clinical practice

The role and value of statistical contributions in drug development up to the point of health authority approval are well understood. But health authority approval is only a true ‘win’ if the evidence enables access and adoption into clinical practice. In today's complex and evolving healthcare environment, there is additional strategic evidence generation, communication, and decision support that can benefit from statistical contributions. In this article, we describe the history of medical affairs in the context of drug development, the factors driving post-approval evidence generation needs, and the opportunities for statisticians to optimize evidence generation for stakeholders beyond health authorities in order to ensure that new medicines reach appropriate patients.     

Statistics for Quality and Productivity: A New Graduate-Level Statistics Course

The growing popular realization that American product quality and productivity are no longer without challenge for world leadership presents an opportunity for the American statistical community to make stronger contributions to sound industrial practice than it has in the past. Management consultants, such as Deming and Juran, are promoting philosophies that contain strong statistical components and are being heard by top U.S. executives. There are thus growing opportunities for industrial statisticians. Upon reviewing the content of typical graduate-level statistical quality control courses and books in the light of the present situation, we find them to be inadequate and in some cases to suffer from inappropriate emphases. In this article we discuss our perceptions of what is needed in the way of a new graduate-level course in statistics for quality and productivity (SQP). We further offer for discussion a syllabus for such a course (which is a modification of one used at Iowa State in the 1983 spring semester), some comments on how specific topics might be approached, and also a partially annotated list of references for material that we believe belongs in a modern SQP course.     

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。