352 – Section on Statistical Consulting CPapers 1
Goals for Statistics and Data Science Collaborations
Eric Alfred Vance
University of Colorado Boulder
Statisticians have a long history of consulting and collaborating with experts from a variety of fields. Now with the rise of data science, collaborating across disciplines is both more important and more prevalent than ever before. This paper examines the goals of statistics and data science collaborations and uses the ASCCR (Attitude-Structure-Communication-Content-Relationship) Framework for Collaboration to connect these goals. Specifically, we propose that a useful way of guiding consultations and collaborations is for statisticians and data scientists to work toward two terminal goals of a collaboration: to make a deep contribution to the field and create a strong relationship with the domain expert. To help in achieving these goals, statisticians and data scientists should strive to achieve three instrumental goals: adopt an attitude of collaboration, provide effective structure for the collaboration, and communicate to create shared understanding. We show how these five goals map onto the ASCCR Frame, how they are connected to each other, and how to have conversations about these goals. The goal of this paper is to show statisticians and data scientists how they can become more effective collaborators by providing motivation for using the ASCCR framework to improve their practice of statistics and data science.