ASA at 175 - Getting Involved in The World of Statistics
By Ronald Wasserstein - April 101, 2014
One of the ways the ASA promotes the practice and profession of statistics is by supporting efforts to increase the visibility of our profession here in the US and around the world. The largest of these efforts is The World of Statistics (TWOS), the successor to 2013’s highly successful International Year of Statistics.
It is incredibly important for statisticians and statistical organizations to become involved in The World of Statistics. Today’s blog will highlight the many ways you can participate, and conclude with reasons WHY you should.
Here are several ways to participate. Some of them require very little time on your part, and yet are still very important.
- Subscribe to the News from The World of Statistics. You’ll get information from this e-newsletter about what is going on around the globe in statistical practice, news that you won’t get anywhere else in a single place. Some of it you’ll just skim and some you will read with interest, but in whole the e-newsletter will give you a larger picture of the worldwide statistical community every three weeks.
- Check to see if your organization is a member by going to the Global Participants listing. If not, encourage your department or company to join. Becoming a participant costs absolutely nothing, and there are no obligations. By joining, your organization gets connected to the worldwide statistical community in a unique way. There are more than 2350 organizations involved - why not yours?
- Tell us what you are doing by submitting news of your activities and posting your events on the Activities Calendar. (This may seem like a small thing, but when has there been a worldwide calendar of statistical activities? We have one now, and it's very popular. So, let’s make the most of it!)
- Contribute content to the The World of Statistics website. There are numerous ways you can do that. Details can be found on this link.
- Follow us on Twitter at @astatworld, and retweet our messages to your followers. Also, when you use Twitter to spread the word about The World of Statistics, use the hashtag “#TWOS”. You also can follow developments in The World of Statistics on our Facebook page.
Why should you get involved, or become more involved? If you are a statistician, you know well that our profession lacks the visibility it deserves. This isn’t a matter of glory-seeking. There is a tremendous opportunity loss associated with the lack of recognition of statistics as a profession and a science resulting from misapplication and misuse of statistics and a general lack of understanding of the basic statistical principles needed in our increasingly data-centric world.
These are not new problems, but the International Year of Statistics was and The World of Statistics is a new approach to solving them. Never before has there been a purposeful connection across such a vast and diverse network, which was built through Statistics2013 and is being preserved and enhanced through The World of Statistics. We are continuing to make the most of this opportunity.
You can help us do that. Get connected to The World of Statistics, and contribute to making that world, and our whole world, a better place. After all, as we at the ASA like to point out, statisticians bring integrity to the processes and data that fuel innovation and have real impact on our world.
In 2014, the American Statistical Association is celebrating its 175th anniversary. Over the course of this year, this blog will highlight aspects of that celebration, and look broadly at the ASA and its activities. Please contact ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein (ron@amstat.org) if you would like to post an entry to this blog.