Abstract:
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Federal statistical careers and experiences vary greatly, both within- and between federal agencies. Outside the principal statistical agencies, many statisticians are "isolated," and rarely work on teams with other statisticians. In the Environmental Protection Agency, where I work, outside a few small pockets of statisticians, we work primarily with scientists, engineers, and environmental protection specialists. Statisticians in regulatory agencies like EPA are sometimes discouraged from publishing or speaking about what they do, due to the time-sensitive issues of regulatory development. In the principal statistical agencies, statisticians typically work in close proximity to other statisticians or on teams whose work products are statistical in nature. In this presentation, we explore the summary statistics regarding federal statisticians and answer questions like the following: How many federal statisticians are there? How are they distributed by salary? By educational level? How does one go about finding vacancy announcements and, having found a vacancy, how does one apply? Where does the isolated statistician go to connect with the larger statistical community?
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