The Nontechnical Skills Needed to Be an Effective Statistical Consultant

• Activity Number: 352
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Consulting
• Author(s): Murray Clayton* and Bruce Craig* and Christopher Holloman* and Michelle Wiest*
• Companies: University of Wisconsin and Purdue University and The Ohio State University and University of Idaho
• Keywords: consulting ; communication ; client

Abstract

Being an effective statistical consultant requires one to possess both statistical and interpersonal skills. Historically, little attention has been given to training statistics graduate students how to be effective communicators of their statistical knowledge to researchers in other fields. If the statistical consultant is unable to convey his or her statistical knowledge in a manner that is useful to the client, a disservice is done to the client and can prevent ongoing cooperation or collaboration. The focus of this panel discussion is on the important interpersonal skills necessary to achieve success in providing statistical consulting to researchers in an academic setting. In the discussion, experienced statistical consultants describe some strategies for achieving effective communication with clients.