ASA Member News Archive
ASA Member News November 2012
November 2012 Edition
Statistical Outreach & News
STATISTICIANS: SPOT-ON ELECTION PREDICTIONS AND SO MUCH MORE
While statisticians Nate Silver, Drew Linzer and others deserve plaudits for their uncanny accuracy in predicting last week’s presidential election, statisticians contribute in many other critical areas that help improve the lives of Americans by ensuring their safety, protecting their health and prolonging their life, says American Statistical Association (ASA) President Robert N. Rodriguez. “We tip our hats to Nate, Drew and their colleagues for their incredible accuracy in predicting the outcome of the presidential election,” says Rodriguez, who is the senior director of statistical research and development at SAS Institute, Inc. in Cary, N.C. “Their collective success is an excellent example of how statisticians across the country are helping to solve the many vexing problems and challenges confronting our country and the world.” Read more.
WATCH K-12 STATS ED DISCUSSION ON GOOGLE+
ASA Members Christine Franklin and Rob Gould will be featured on a K-12 statistics education discussion Nov. 28 at 4 pm EST in a Google+ Policy by the Numbers Hangout on Air. With the ever-increasing number of students taking AP Statistics each year and the inclusion of statistics in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, Franklin and Gould will address the value of statistical literacy, the increasing interest, and the challenges. Please tune in Nov. 28 at 4 p.m. EST at the Policy By the Numbers Google+ page.
8% ACROSS-THE-BOARD BUDGET CUTS FOR NSF, NIH, AND STATISTICAL AGENCIES DAYS AWAY: UNCLEAR WHEATHER CONGRESS WILL ACT TO AVERT 'SEQUESTRATION'
With the election over, lawmakers return to Washington to wrap up the 112th Congress. It is unclear whether they will act to avert the automatic across-the-board federal agency budget cuts known also as sequestration, which will take effect January 2 and mean at least 8.2% cuts for all federal budgets, including NSF, NIH, and the federal statistical agencies. Only an act of Congress can prevent the cuts. Read more at this September blog entry, White House document reports 8.2% sequestration cuts for NSF, NIH, and statistical agencies. The ASA is concerned about the impact of these cuts on research and the work of the federal statistical agencies. After Thanksgiving, we ask ASA members to urge their U.S. senators and representatives to avert these cuts.
ASA JOINS STEM ED COALITION EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
To further pursue the ASA’s statistics education objectives, the ASA has joined the executive council of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition. The STEM Ed Coalition is a leading supporter of STEM programs for teachers and students at the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation. Other members of the executive council include the American Chemical Society, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Microsoft Corporation, Business-Higher Education Forum, National Association of Manufacturers, and Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. A principal ASA statistics education objective is making sure statistics teachers/lecturers have the preparation and resources to teach this scientific discipline well. The ASA’s Director of Education Rebecca Nichols and Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson both recommended the ASA join this group.
COMMENTS WANTED FOR HOW TO BETTER SUPPORT THE STATISTICAL SCIENCES WITHIN NSF
“StatsNSF,” the committee recently charged with examining the structure of support for the statistical sciences within the National Science Foundation (NSF), is requesting the American Statistical Association’s help in gathering comments from the statistical community. Please send your comments for how to bolster statistics at NSF to president@amstat.org. Read more here.
ASA SUPPORTS RISK-LIMITING AUDITS
ASA President Bob Rodriguez has sent a letter in support of a white paper—Risk-Limiting Post-Election Audits: Why and How—that provides guidance to state lawmakers for writing legislation and regulations to implement risk-limiting audits. Rodriguez sent the letter to ASA member Philip Stark, who organized and led the group that authored the white paper, shortly after the election. Members of the Risk-Limiting Audits Working Group included election officials, researchers, and election advocates. The letter also reviews the ASA’s prior support for risk-limiting audits and the role of statistics in election integrity. More on the ASA’s election auditing work can be found here.
CENSUS AT SCHOOL PROGRAM HITS 10,000-STUDENT MILESTONE
The American Statistical Association’s U.S. Census at School program, a free, international classroom project that engages students in grades 4–12 in statistical problem solving, has recorded its milestone 10,000th student. Students complete an online survey, analyze their class census results, and compare their class with random samples of students in the United States and other participating countries. The ASA is seeking champions to expand the U.S. Census at School program nationally. For more information about how you can get involved, see the article online.
To receive updates about ASA Science Policy activities or news, follow us on Twitter: @ASA_SciPol. See recent Tweets.
Meetings, Education, & Events
FEDERAL COMMITTEE ON STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY (FCSM) STATISTICAL POLICY SEMINAR - Washington, DC – December 4–5
This two-day FCSM seminar will be held at the Washington DC Convention Center and hosted by the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS). The seminar will bring together statisticians, economists, and managers, as well as other professionals in the broader statistical community who share an interest in keeping current on issues related to federal data. The theme for this year’s seminar is “Collaborating to Achieve Innovation and Efficiencies: Advances and Opportunities.” The seminar will consist of a keynote address by Robert Groves of Georgetown University and organized sessions. For more information and to register, please visit the COPAFS website.
U.S CENSUS BUREAU OFFERS FREE WEBINARS– December 10–12, 2012
The Census Bureau will provide a free webinar about accessing U.S. Census Bureau statistics. It is designed for beginners, including an overview of some of the programs, surveys, and censuses associated with the U.S. Census Bureau. For more information, including the agenda and free registration, visit the webiste.
2013 ASA CONFERENCE ON STATISTICAL PRACTICE– New Orleans, LA – February 21–23
Join us for the Conference on Statistical Practice. CSP 2013 brings together hundreds of statistical practitioners—including data analysts, researchers, and scientists—who engage in the application of statistics to solve real-world problems on a daily basis. The conference will provide an opportunity to learn about the latest statistical methodologies and best practices in statistical design, analysis, programming, and consulting. Learn more about CSP Short Courses, including Seven Techniques to Maximize Speech Clarity if English is Your Second Language. View the tentative program. Register now.
DELEGATION TO CUBA – MAY 19–24
The ASA is organizing a delegation to visit Cuba May 19–24 to develop an improved understanding of the roles played by statistics and statisticians in Cuba in academe, business, and government, as well as the efforts under way to train statisticians and build capacity for the profession. 2013 ASA President Marie Davidian will lead the delegation, which will discuss matters of common interest regarding the development of statistical capacity in the work force. Participants will learn about how statisticians are trained in Cuba and share information about statistical work force development in the United States. ASA members are invited to join in this unique opportunity. Look for an email message from the ASA inviting you to participate.
JSM 2013 – Montréal, Québec, Canada – August 3–8
Start planning for JSM 2013. This year’s meetings also will celebrate the International Year of Statistics. Learn more about Montréal’s European charm and extensive cultural happenings.
2013 ASA BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SECTION FDA-INDUSTRY STATISTICS WORKSHOP– Washington, DC – September 16–18, 2013
The FDA-Industry Statistics Workshop invites proposals for plenary/concurrent sessions, short courses, and roundtable luncheon/town hall discussions. The online submission site is now open for all session types. The deadline for submission of plenary/concurrent sessions and short courses is December 31. Proposals for roundtable luncheon/town hall discussion will be accepted through March 1, 2013.
EVENTS CALENDAR
Statistical events are happening around the country and the globe. View our Upcoming Events Calendar.
Off the Press
AMSTAT NEWS
COMMUNICATION, INFLUENCE KEYS TO SUCCESS IN STATISTICS
This article focuses on the importance of communication as a success factor in statistics. It details why communication and influence skills matter and how one can improve upon them. Read more here.
SIGNIFICANCE MAGAZINE ONLINE WEB EXCLUSIVES
CINEMETRICS: MEASURING MOVIES
Cinemetrics has been defined as an open-access interactive website designed to collect, store, and process digital data related to film editing. This manifests itself, in one database, as information about more than 10,000 films in the form of ordered shot lengths that can be represented as cut-points in a film. Pattern recognition is the core of most bodies of statistical methodology. This article focuses on how Cinematic is taking important steps in the direction of pattern recognition. Read more here.
Read more web exclusives from Significance.
CALL FOR EDITOR NOMINATIONS
The ASA is inviting nominations and applications for the following:
- JASA Theory and Methods Co-Editors
- JASA/TAS Reviews Editor
- Statistics in Biopharmaceutical Research Editor
Nominations should be made no later than December 14, 2012.
If you know someone who would be right for one of these editorships, please send that person’s name, email address, and a brief description of his or her qualifications to journals@amstat.org. The respective search committee will contact your nominee to see if she or he is interested in applying.
Member Opportunities
ASA ANNOUNCES 2012 MEMBERSHIP RATES
The ASA Board of Directors approved membership rates for 2013 during the August board meeting. View the membership rates.
2013 POSTER AND PROJECT COMPETITIONS
Introduce K–12 students to statistics through the annual poster and project competitions directed by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on the Curriculum in Statistics and Probability. The competitions offer 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. Posters (grades K–12) are due every year on April 1. Projects (grades 7–12) are due on June 1. For more information, visit the website.
INFORM NEW ACTIVITIES, PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT K–16 MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS EDUCATION
The National Science Foundation (NSF), in cooperation with the U.S Department of Education, is interested in input that can inform new activities and programs to support and improve K–16 mathematics education. The working group is viewing mathematics to broadly include pure and applied math, statistics, and the computational sciences. For more information and to provide input regarding K–16 mathematics and statistics education, see the NSF Dear Colleague letter and survey.
PROJECT-SET
Project-SET is a new National Science Foundation–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 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report: A Pre-K–12 Curriculum Framework. Materials will be available in January of 2013.
LESSON PLANS AVAILABLE/WANTED 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 their use. 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). The editor of STEW, Mary Richardson of Grand Valley State University, is accepting submissions of lesson plans for an online bank of peer-reviewed lessons for K–12 teachers of mathematics and science. Consider submitting several of your favorite lesson plans according to the STEW template to steweditor@amstat.org.
ASA ACCREDITATION PROGRAM CONTINUES TO GROW
The ASA’s accreditation program 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, a 20% discount on regular Continuing Education courses, and special recognition. The ASA would like to congratulate the following people who became accredited members during the month of September: Peter Forbes of Children’s Hospital Boston, Hong Chen of McDougall Scientific, Ltd., Francis Mendez of Texas State University, Rasheed Ojikutu of the University of Lagos, and Chungui Wang of McDougall Scientific, Ltd. A full list of accredited members is also available. To find out how to start enjoying extra benefits today, visit the accreditation website and review the guidelines to be sure of your eligibility.
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, & CONTESTS
ASA AWARDS AND DEADLINES - Deadline: Various
YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARDS OF THE IISA - Deadline (extended): December 1, 2012
NOETHER SENIOR AND YOUNG SCHOLAR AWARDS – Deadline: December 1, 2012
L. ADRIENNE CUPPLES AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND SERVICE IN BIOSTATISTICS – Deadline: December 1, 2012
STAND UP FOR SCIENCE CONTEST – Deadline: December 1, 2012
RAO PRIZE AWARD – Deadline: December 3, 2012
ASA/NSF/BEA FELLOWSHIP – Deadline: January 18, 2013
2013 ASA/NSF/BLS FELLOWSHIPS – Deadline: January 20, 2013
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF STATISTICS: VIDEO CONTEST – Deadline: February 28, 2013
CAUSALITY IN STATISTICS EDUCATION AWARDS– Deadline: February 28, 2013
Feedback, comments, or suggestions are welcome please email asamail@amstat.org with your ideas.