Salon E
Consulting and Collaboration in Cross-Disciplinary Studies (303523)
*Naomi Altman, Penn StateKeywords: communication, writing, graphics
In the era of data-based science and decision making, statisticians and data scientists have an essential role in collecting, summarizing, displaying and interpreting data. However, data is not a context-free collection of numbers and categories – it is imbued with meaning through the discipline and type of study in which it was collected. For applied statisticians and data scientists, this implies that along with quantitative skills, excellent communication skills are required as we serve as consultants or collaborators in cross-disciplinary research. Wikipedia defines “communication” as “the act of conveying intended meaning to another entity through the use of mutually understood signs...” In this talk I will draw on my experiences as a consultant and collaborator in the academic setting, and as the author of a series of articles on statistical methods in a biological journal to discuss how to establish “mutually understood signs” and avoid mutual misunderstanding in the context of cross-disciplinary work.