ASA Member News Archive
ASA Member News April 2012
April 2012 Edition
Statistical Outreach & News
CONGRESSIONAL PANELS START APPROPRIATIONS WORK FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR
House and Senate appropriations subcommittees began releasing their bills for fiscal year 2013 (FY13) this week. A Senate bill contains a 3 percent increase for NSF. The House bills increase NSF by 4 percent but cut the U.S. Census Bureau by 7 percent and the Energy Information Administration budget by 5 percent. All the FY13 appropriations developments for the federal statistical agencies, NSF and NIH will be tracked over the next many months at FY13 NSF and NIH Budget Developments and FY13 Statistical Agency Budget Developments.
WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES BIG DATA INITIATIVE
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy launched a big data research and development initiative on March 29 that includes $200 million in investments. The webcast of the event is available here. More information, including opportunities for funding, is available in this ASA Community blog entry. The ASA also requests your comments on the role of statisticians and the ASA in big data. Visit the ASA Community blog entry, Big Data and the Role of Statistics.
ASA FELLOWS CALLS FOR BETTER SYSTEM-WIDE FINANCIAL MODELS
John Liechty, Pennsylvania State University Professor and ASA Fellow, published a piece in the April 12 issue Nature Magazine titled, “Scientists and bankers — a new model army.” Noting that existing financial models failed to predict recent crises, Liechty discusses a path toward achieving a scientific goal of building better models of the global financial system.
SENATE PANEL HOLDS SECOND HEARING ON SCIENCE IN FORENSIC SCIENCE
Chairing his second hearing on the science in forensic science in five months, Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation chair, John D. Rockefeller, said forensic science reform is one of his committee’s top priorities this year and promised a bill this month. MIT Broad Institute Director Eric Lander’s testimony on the need for more science in forensic science stood out as one of the highlights of the hearing. For more information, see Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Holds Second Hearing on Forensic Science.
ASA Science Policy is now on Twitter. Follow us at @ASA_SciPol.
Meetings, Education, & Events
ASA EXHIBITING AT SECOND USA SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FESTIVAL EXPO – Washington, DC – April 28–29, 2012
The ASA and a number of other organizations will offer more than 3,000 interactive exhibits and 150 stage shows during the second USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, April 28–29, 2012. Bring your whole family and give your future and current scientists the experience of a lifetime. Come check out the ASA booth, “Discovery Through Statistics,” located in Hall C, Booth Number 1006. Booth activities will draw from entries to the 2010 Hands-On Statistics Activity Competition, and ASA members will volunteer time in the booth to coordinate the activities. Visit the official festival website to view all exhibit and stage shows and a festival calendar and download a map of the expo grounds. If interested in volunteering in the ASA booth during the festival, please contact Rebecca@amstat.org.
CHICAGO CHAPTER CONFERENCE – Chicago, Illinois – May 4, 2012
The ASA’s Chicago Chapter is hosting a conference, titled “America the Predictable? Different Approaches to Understanding and Forecasting Political Election Results.” Speakers include Allan Lichtman (The Keys to the White House: Forecast for 2012), John G. Geer (Political Attack Advertising), Forrest Nelson (Iowa Electronic Markets), and Filippo Menczer (Tracking the Diffusion of Political Ideas in Social Media).For more information and to register, please visit the website.
THE SUMMER PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE – University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN – May 21–June 8, 2012
The Summer Public Health Institute offers courses for everyone practicing in or studying public health or fields related to public health. Participants can build or expand their professional expertise, learn best practices, broaden career options, network with other professionals, or explore a new area of interest. Course content emphasizes theory to practice, with opportunities for field trips, case studies, hands-on labs, and simulations. Courses will be offered in all nine concentration areas of public health. Registration opens April 10 for admitted students and April 17 for non-admitted students.
CLEVELAND CHAPTER SEMINAR “TOOLS FOR REGAINING THE COMPETITIVE EDGE” - Independence, OH - May 11, 2012
This seminar will cover nonparametric regression methods built on recursive partitioning, a statistical technique that forms the basis for two classes of nonparametric regression methods: Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS). It will benefit those who want to use trees and adaptive splines to analyze high-dimensional and complex data. It also will help students and researchers who wish to develop related classification and regression methods and software. This seminar covers chapters from the book Recursive Partitioning and Applications.
AAPOR 67th ANNUAL CONFERENCE “EVALUATING NEW FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC OPINION AND SOCIAL RESEARCH”– Orlando, Florida – May 17–20, 2012
AAPOR's Annual Conference features cutting-edge educational sessions, in-depth short courses, informal access to leaders in the field, and an informative exhibit hall with representatives from key service and product providers. This year's conference theme, “Evaluating New Frontiers in Public Opinion and Social Research,” focuses on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of new methodologies and modes of data collection and exploring the implications for our profession.
2012 ASA CONFERENCE ON RADIATION AND HEALTH – Kennebunkport, ME – June 10–13, 2012
The 2012 ASA Conference on Radiation and Health continues a decades-long tradition of bringing together leading internationally known scientists and new investigators working in the biophysical, biological, biostatistical, and public health aspects of radiation epidemiology. Morning and evening sessions will be devoted to understanding the state of radiation science and human health, and long afternoons will be free for informal interaction and exploration. All invited speakers are internationally recognized experts in their field. Online registration closes May 21, 2012. Housing closes May 4, 2012.
4TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ESTABLISHMENT SURVEYS (ICESIV) – Montreal, Quebec, Canada - June 11–14, 2012: REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
The ICES series of conferences serves an important role in the world of survey methodology, as few others focus on methods and applications for establishment surveys. The first three, held at seven-year intervals from 1993 to 2007, were very successful, with more than 400 delegates per conference. The conferences cover a broad spectrum of survey methods for businesses, farms, and institutions. Online registration is open through May 23. Learn more here.
The 21ST AUSTRALIAN STATISTICAL CONFERENCE AND THE 8TH AUSTRALIAN CONFERENCE ON TEACHING STATISTICS - Adelaide, South Australia - July 9–13, 2012
Adelaide will host two major statistical events at the Adelaide Convention Centre: The 21st Australian Statistical Conference (ASC 2012) will be held July 9–12, and the 8th Australian Conference on Teaching Statistics (OZCOTS 2012) will be held July 12–13. Early registration will be open through May 15. Register.
JOINT STATISTICAL MEETINGS 2012 - San Diego, CA – July 28–Aug 2
JSM 2012, to be held in downtown San Diego’s convention center, will welcome one of the largest groups of individuals interested in and related to the advancement and study of statistics. Meeting activities include oral presentations, panel sessions, poster presentations, Continuing Education courses, the Career Placement Service, the exhibit hall, and other networking opportunities. Early registration will open on May 1.
2012 NISS/ASA WRITING WORKSHOP FOR JUNIOR RESEARCHERS – San Diego, CA (JSM) July 29–August 1
The National Institute of Statistical Science and the ASA will hold a writing workshop for junior researchers. The goal of the workshop is to provide instruction for writing journal articles and grant proposals. Participants will be required to provide a recent sample of their writing, which will be reviewed by a senior mentor. The full-day session is scheduled for Sunday, July 29, in San Diego. At the close of the formal activities, mentors will meet individually with participants to go over the writing samples. Attendance is limited and depends on the number of mentors available. Applications are due by June 1, 2012, and successful applicants will be notified by June 30.
YOUNG BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL STATISTICANS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS – Lisbon, Portugal - July 23–26, 2012
The Young Business and Industrial Statisticians (y-BIS) of the International Society for Business and Industrial Statistics is organizing its first international conference for undergraduates, PhD candidates, post-docs, assistant professors, and anyone studying statistics or who is interested in learning more about the profession. Register now.
2012 CONFERENCE ON HEALTH STATISTICS – Washington, DC – August 6–8, 2012
The biennial Conference on Health Statistics focuses on the critical importance of public health data affecting the health and well-being of the U.S. population. Included in the 2012 conference is a one-day learning institute on August 6, in which participants will receive hands-on training for accessing and analyzing NCHS survey data and explore learning modules on the use of selected data access tools. This year’s expanded Exhibitor Showcase and Poster Sessions offer another venue for insight into NCHS survey operations and data analysis.
CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH ON INCOME AND WEALTH – Boston, MA – August 15, 2012
The Bureau of Economic Analysis is hosting the 32nd General Conference of the International Association for Research on Income and Wealth. The general conference provides a forum for statistical officials and experts from around the world to present new research findings on topics related to national accounting, well-being, and income distribution. One outcome of this research is the development of new economic indicators that will help address some of the most important challenges confronting the global economy. Registration is now open.
ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY 2012 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – Telford International Centre, UK – September 3–6, 2012
The Royal Statistical Society’s 2012 International Conference program will include plenary talks from Hal Varian (Google), Martine Durand (OECD), and David Hand (Imperial College), as well as feature more than 30 invited sessions covering topics as diverse as aging in the 21st century, experimental design challenges in industry, measuring national well-being, and statistics and the Olympics. The conference also will feature a stream of professional development workshops and a full pre-conference short course program. Register for the conference now.
2012 ASA BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SECTION FDA/INDUSTRY STATISTICS WORKSHOP – Washington, DC – September 12–14, 2012
The ASA’s Biopharmaceutical Section will host the FDA/Industry Statistics Workshop September 12–14 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park. Short courses are scheduled on the first day, followed by two days of sessions on the science and statistics associated with the development of new medical products (pharmaceuticals, biologics, and devices). The workshop has been popular since its inception because it is designed specifically for statisticians from industry, academia, and the FDA, providing a forum for open dialogue about issues of mutual interest. Registration will open on June 4, 2012.
EVENTS CALENDAR
Statistical events are happening around the country and the globe. View our Upcoming Events Calendar.
Off the Press
AMSTAT NEWS
NSF, U.S CENSUS BUREAU ANNOUNCES RESEARCH NETWORK
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Census Bureau have awarded interdisciplinary research grants aimed at finding new ways to interpret social, behavioral, and economic data and use and disseminate the resulting statistics. This feature article details the eight research awards made to establish a set of research nodes that will conduct long-term, interdisciplinary, methodological research and educational activities. Read More.
SIGNIFICANCE MAGAZINE ONLINE WEB EXCLUSIVES
GOOGLE STARTS RANKING JOURNALS
Google recently announced a new feature to its Scholar service called Google Scholar Metrics. The service gives users who are ready to submit their research, but are uncertain about which journal to choose, a history of research that journals have published so authors can best fit their research. Read more.
Read more web exclusives from Significance.
The American Statistician
P-Value Precision and Reproducibility, by Dennis D. Boos and Leonard A. Stefanski
Journal of Business and Economic Statistics
Forecast Rationality Tests Based on Multi-Horizon Bounds, by Andrew J. Patton and Allan Timmermann
Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics Editorial , by Richard Levine
Gaussian Variational Approximate Inference for Generalized Linear Mixed Models , by J. T. Ormerod and M. P. Wand
Member Opportunities
PROPOSED NEW SECTION ON STATISTICS AND MEASUREMENTS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION
In an effort to embrace the rich shared tradition of statistics, psychology, and education and to recognize the increased interest of ASA members in topics related to psychology and education, a section titled Statistics and Measurement in Psychology and Education is being considered. Part of the charter for a new section is to have petitions from at least 100 ASA members saying they would join the section and actively participate in its activities. Current members who would join and participate in the section, should it be approved by the ASA, are encouraged to send an email to Ken Kelley with a statement of support and their name, email address, and ASA member ID.
CHAPTER SPONSORED COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
There are nine upcoming courses and workshops sponsored by ASA chapters. For dates, locations, descriptions, and registration information, visit the Council of Chapters website. If your chapter is sponsoring an upcoming event and would like it posted to the COC website, please contact ASA chapter liaison, Rick Peterson, with the relevant information and link to the chapter’s website where additional information can be found.
PROJECT-SET
Project-SET is a new NSF-funded project to develop curricular materials that enhance the ability of high-school teachers to foster students’ statistical learning regarding sampling variability and regression. All materials will be geared toward helping high-school teachers implement the Common Core State Standards for statistics and are closely aligned with the learning goals outlined in the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education: A Pre-K–12 Curriculum Framework(GAISE) report. Materials will be available in January of 2013.
ASA COMMUNITY DISCUSSION POSTINGS
To ensure you receive ASA Community messages, please ask your email administrator to whitelist the domain amstat.org. You also can improve message delivery by adding egroups.amstat.org and notifications.amstat.org to your safe senders lists in your email client.
JSM T-SHIRT DESIGNS
Suggestions are currently being accepted for 2012 JSM T-Shirt designs. If your design is selected, you will win a free 2012 JSM T-Shirt. Please send submissions to Kalil Deschamps.
LESSON PLANS AVAILABLE ON STATISTICS EDUCATION WEB FOR K-12 TEACHERS
Statistics Education Web (STEW) is an online resource for peer-reviewed lesson plans for K–12 teachers. The lesson plans identify both the statistical concepts being developed and the age range appropriate for its use. The website resource is organized around the four elements in the GAISE framework: formulate a statistical question, design and implement a plan to collect data, analyze the data by measures and graphs, and interpret the data in the context of the original question. Teachers can navigate the site by grade level and statistical topic.
LESSON PLANS WANTED FOR STATISTICS EDUCATION WEB
The new editor of STEW, Mary Richardson of Grand Valley State University, is accepting submissions of lesson plans for an online bank of peer-reviewed lesson plans for K–12 teachers of mathematics and science. Lesson plans will showcase the use of statistical methods and ideas in science and mathematics based on the framework and levels in the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE). Consider submitting several of your favorite lesson plans according to the STEW template to steweditor@amstat.org.
2012 ASA PROJECT COMPETITION
Introduce grades 7–12 students to statistics through the annual project competition, directed by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability. The competition offers opportunities for students to formulate questions and collect, analyze, and draw conclusions from data. Winners will be recognized with plaques, cash prizes, certificates, and calculators, and their names will be published in Amstat News. Projects are due on June 1.
JANET NORWOOD AWARDS
The Section on Statistical Genetics and the department of biostatistics in the school of public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham request nominations for the eleventh annual Janet L. Norwood Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences. The award recipient will deliver a lecture on September 12 at the UAB award ceremony and receive travel expenses and a $5,000 prize. Visit the UAB website for details.
ASA-SIAM
The electronic materials accompanying Mathematica Laboratories for Mathematical Statistics: Emphasizing Simulation and Computer Intensive Methods by Jenny A. Baglivo (ASA-SIAM, 2005) have been updated for use with current versions of Mathematica and are now available online. Potential users interested in requesting an examination or desk copy, or current users who wish to obtain access to the updated online materials, should visit the site.
MATHEMATICS OF PLANET EARTH COMPETITION FOR AN OPEN SOURCE EXHIBITION OF VIRTUAL MODULES
This competition is part of the world initiative Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 (MPE2013). The modules could be reproduced and used by institutions around the world, from science museums to schools. The exhibition will have a virtual part, as well as instructions to realize material parts. The competition will be open until May 15. Prize winners will be selected by an international jury nominated by MPE2013 and announced in August. The winning modules will occupy a prominent place on the website of the exhibition. Moreover, it is planned to show the modules of the overall winners in exhibitions and museums.
STATISTICS WITHOUT BORDERS SEEKS VOLUNTEERS FOR INSTRUCRORS OF STATISTICS AND SURVEY METHODS IN NORTH KOREA
Statistics without Borders is looking for volunteer instructors to spend one to four weeks this July at the first Pyongyang Summer Institute in Survey Science and Quantitative Methodology (PSI) in North Korea. The courses will cover a variety of statistical and survey areas and take place at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. For more information, see the SWB Facebook page.
ASA ACCREDITATION PROGRAM CONTINUES TO GROW
The ASA’s accreditation program has recently expanded the benefits of becoming an Accredited Professional Statistician™. ASA accreditation is a portfolio-based credential available to only ASA members. It is completely voluntary and intended for those who think such a credential would be meaningful in their professional lives. New benefits include free LearnStat on Demand access, 20% discount on regular Continuing Education courses (starting at JSM 2012), and special recognition, including a special PStat®-only reception at JSM 2012. To find out how to start enjoying extra benefits today, visit the accreditation website and review the guidelines to be sure of your eligibility.
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS AND TEACHING STATISTICS
Now available in the ASA Marketplace, Bridging the Gap offers 20 data analysis and probability investigations written as guides for teachers to implement straightforwardly in their K-8 classrooms. Each investigation is based on the four-step statistical process as defined by the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE).
STATISTICAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Nominations are now open for the award for statistical excellence in the pharmaceutical industry jointly made by the Royal Statistical Society and Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Nominations for the award will close on April 20tt, 2012. The winner(s) will be announced in the beginning of July 2012 with the award being presented at the Royal Statistical Society's awards reception at its conference in Telford on September 4, 2012. The RSS web site has further details and an entry form.
Feedback, comments, or suggestions are welcome please email asamail@amstat.org with your ideas.