Presenting Complex Statistical Methodologies to Military Leadership: Tricks of the Trade and Lessons Learned

• Activity Number: 146
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 10, 2015 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Defense and National Security
• Author(s): Yevgeniya Pinelis* and Paul Johnson
• Companies: Center for Naval Analyses and Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity
• Keywords: military ; statistical methodology ; communication ; design of experiments ; observational studies

Abstract

More often than not, the data we analyze for the military is plagued with statistical issues. Multicollinearity, small sample sizes, quasi-experimental designs, and convenience samples are some examples of what we commonly see in military data. Many of these complications can be resolved either in the design or analysis stage with appropriate statistical procedures. But, to keep our work useful, usable, and transparent to the military leadership who sponsors it, we must strike the elusive balance between explaining and justifying our design and analysis techniques and not inundating our audience with unnecessary details. It can be even more difficult to get military leadership to understand the statistical problems and solutions so well that they are enthused and supportive of our approaches. Using literature written on the subject as well as a variety of experiences, we will showcase several examples, as well as present ideas for keeping our clients actively engaged in statistical methodology discussions.