Abstract #301864

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JSM 2003 Abstract #301864
Activity Number: 82
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Monday, August 4, 2003 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
Sponsor: Section on Statistical Consulting
Abstract - #301864
Title: Effective Communication as a Statistician with Nonstatisticians
Author(s): Nicole C. Close*+ and Michael Di Marino
Companies: EMMES Corporation and Piney Associates, Inc.
Address: 401 North Washington St., Rockville, MD, 20850-1737,
Keywords: education ; training ; communication ; nonstatisticians
Abstract:

As statisticians, we are faced with a plethora of study design issues, data collection challenges, and statistical choices each day. However, one of the most difficult issues we face is effective communication with our sponsors and clients. When conducting verbal and written communication with non-statisticians, we tend to find ourselves at a loss trying to convey the methodological and statistical issues for their complete understanding. Many statisticians try to "teach" the client statistics in an hour or two and often leave a meeting or conference call feeling frustrated. Likewise, sending a report and having it interpreted by only its p vales or significant results can also be frustrating. Because effective communication is an important activity for almost all statisticians, issues of training students and mentoring junior statisticians in the skills and knowledge needed by practicing statisticians should be considered. We have found that by going back to the basics and focusing on strong verbal interaction, quality graphics, effective presentations, and appropriately annotated reports and by providing relevant statistical examples, effective communication can and will occur.

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