Posted by Jay Chmiel on July 02, 1999 at 15:33:31:
In Section II.H, the Committee has suggested that ethical responsibilities related to statistical practice extend beyond the statistical practitioner. In particular, this section attributes responsibilities
to employers, clients, etc.
In that same spirit, would it not also be appropriate
to recognize the related ethical responsibilities of
those who educate statistical practitioners? If
employers and clients have such ethical
responsibilities, then so do educators.
At a minimum, educators who train students to be
statistical practitioners should:
1. Keep abreast of the statistical skills required to
practice the discipline and assure that their
students, when they graduate, possess these skills;
and
2. Assure that students who plan to practice
statistics also acquire the non-statistical skills
needed to succeed, such as communication skills,
interpersonal skills and teamwork skills.
Of course, educators may choose to offer purely
theoretical statistical degree programs that do not
prepare students to be statistical practitioners.
If so, these educators have an ethical responsibility
to make this clear to prospective students and to
prospective employers of their students.
Jay Chmiel