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Comparing Statistical Consulting and Collaboration Practices Between Nigeria and the United States (302797)

Keywords: Statistical Consulting, Collaborative Statistician, Research Infrastructure, Virginia Tech, Nigeria, LISA 2020

In any society, because of the proliferation of data and usefulness of statistical methods and applications, statistical consulting and collaboration practices are germane and instrumental to research and educational development. Statistical consulting/collaboration skills and services such as providing statistical education, advice, analysis of data, and correct interpretation of research results are highly necessary to aid researchers, particularly in a university environment. These practices, however, vary from country to country. In this paper, we highlight similarities and differences between statistical consulting and collaboration practices in Nigeria and the United States. Our comparison clearly shows a wide gap exists between these two countries in terms of statistical consulting/collaboration practices. We also present LISA 2020, a program to train statisticians from developing countries to become collaborative statisticians who will help solve real-world problems in statistical practice and build a network of 20 statistical collaboration laboratories in developing countries by 2020.