Online Program

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Friday, October 20
Community
Influence
Knowledge
Fri, Oct 20, 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
Aventine Ballroom G
Speed Poster 3 and Refreshments sponsored by AT&T

Moving Out from Behind the Scenes: Opportunities for master’s level statisticians to effectively influence academic research (304069)

*Tawny W Boyce, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center 

In academia, master’s level or non-faculty statisticians, especially entry-level, often work behind the scenes: writing program code, running analyses, producing reports. Armed with a background and knowledge of statistics they can play an instrumental role in improving research quality given the following advice: 1) Be curious and engage in projects to understand where the data originate, rather than blindly crunch numbers. 2) Work with content experts to become an expert themselves on the background and study design of each project in order to apply the most relevant statistical methods. 3) Be proactive in study design. Review protocols, analysis and data management plans, collection forms. 4) Continuously develop and update statistical knowledge and computational abilities. 5) Grow professionally by improving communication, presentation, and project-management skills. 6) Volunteer and learn by experience. There is always grunt-work to be done on grants, manuscripts, and projects in progress. 7) Identify a mentor. Master’s level statisticians can provide critical expertise when brought out from behind the curtain and to the table as integral member of the project team.