ASA Member News Archive
ASA Member News May 2011
May 2011 Edition
Statistical Outreach & News
CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO PILOTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS
In 2010 California Assembly Bill 2023 authorized the piloting of risk-limiting audits of election results, an approach endorsed by the ASA Board of Directors in spring 2010. Two pilots have been conducted so far, one on March 14 in Orange County and one on May 6 in Monterey. Read the leading expert on risk- limiting audits, Philip Stark’s, reports on the results.
FY11 BUDGET DEAL: IMPACTS ON SCIENCE AND STATISTICAL AGENCY BUDGETS
The details of the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) budget deal are emerging. NSF’s budget was cut 1% below FY10 to $6.806 billion. The FY11 NIH budget was also cut by about 1% below FY10 to $30.6 billion. EIA's budget is cut by 14% and the Census Bureau's budget appears to be at least $93 million** below the FY11 request. Read more.
STAT ACT REINTRODUCED: SEEKING COSPONSORS
Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA) recently introduced H.R. 1817, the Statistics Teaching, Aptitude and Training Act of 2011 (STAT Act of 2011). The bill, which differs slightly from last Congress's H.R. 6355, promotes K-12 statistics education through professional development of teachers and statistics education programs.Please contact your U.S. Representative to cosponsor H.R. 1817. By signing up for the ASA Statistical Literacy Grassroots Campaign, we will provide you with the guidance for requesting a meeting with your Congressman in his/her home district office and preparing for the meeting.
Meetings, Education, & Events
13th BIENNIAL CDC SYMPOSIUM ON STATISTICAL METHODS – May 24–25
Statisticians, social and behavioral scientists, epidemiologists, economists, policy analysts, and other health researchers are invited to participate in the 13th Biennial Symposium on Statistical Methods, to be held at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Decatur, Georgia, May 24–25. The symposium is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Statistical Association.
NEW JERSEY CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION SPRING SYMPOSIUM – June 3
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Statistical Association is pleased to announce the Annual ASA NJ Chapter 2011 Spring Symposium for June 3 at the UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, New Jersey. The theme is Bayesian and Frequentist Adaptive Designs in Clinical Trials. View the full program.
THE GRAYBILL CONFERENCE ON MODERN NONPARAMETRIC METHODS – June 22–24
Cosponsored by the Section on Nonparametric Statistics, the Graybill Conference will be held in Fort Collins, Colorado. The focus of the conference is on nonparametric and semiparametric modeling and functional estimation methods. The program consists of a short course, invited plenary talks, and a contributed poster session. Student travel support is available through the student poster competition.
ICSA 2011 APPLIED STATISTICS SYMPOSIUM – June 26–29
The International Chinese Statistical Association (ICSA) invites you to participate in the 20th Applied Statistics Symposium in New York City. All the scientific programs and short courses will be held in The Westin New York Hotel at Times Square. ICSA applied statistics symposium has successfully attracted statisticians from around the world to exchange and explore new scientific research and application techniques. For more information, please contact Wei Zhang.
SECTION FOR STATISTICAL PROGRAMMERS AND ANALYSTS LAUNCH NEW WEB-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM - June 28
SSPA is proud to announce the first webinar in its new web-based training program. Implementing CDISC-Based Processes: General Solutions for Common Challenges from Source Data to SDTM will be presented by Steve Kirby on June 28 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.
JSM 2011 – Miami Beach, Florida – July 30 – August 4
JSM registration is now open. JSM provides oral presentations, panel sessions, poster presentations, continuing education courses, an exhibit hall, the career placement service, society and section business meetings, committee meetings, social activities, and networking opportunities. View the online program.
2011 NISS/ASA WRITING WORKSHOP FOR JUNIOR RESEARCHERS – July 31 and August 3 at JSM
The National Institute of Statistical Science (NISS) and the American Statistical Association will hold a writing workshop for junior researchers. The goal of the workshop is to provide instruction for how to write journal articles and grant proposals.
MEETING WITHIN A MEETING (MWM) STATISTICS WORKSHOP FOR K–12 MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS – Miami Beach, Florida – August 2–3
MWM will take place in conjunction with the Joint Statistical Meetings this summer in Miami Beach, Florida. The workshop is meant to strengthen K–12 mathematics and science teachers’ understanding of statistics and provide them with hands-on activities they can use in their own classrooms. The cost of the workshop is $50.
BEYOND AP STATISTICS WORKSHOP – Miami Beach, Florida – August 3
The ASA/NCTM Joint Committee is pleased to sponsor a Beyond AP Statistics workshop at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Organized by Roxy Peck, the BAPS workshop is offered for experienced AP Statistics teachers and consists of enrichment material just beyond the basic AP syllabus. The cost of the workshop is $50.
58th WORLD STATISTICS CONGRESS OF THE ISI – Dublin, Ireland – August 21–26
Ireland’s Central Statistics Office invites you to participate in the 58th World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute. This biennial meeting brings together statisticians from across the disciplinary spectrum to share experiences, expertise, and challenges.
2011 NEW ENGLAND SYMPOSIUM ON STATISTICS IN SPORTS - Cambridge, Massachusetts - September 24 - CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The 2011 New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports will take place on September 24 at the Harvard University Science Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Abstracts for talks and posters will be accepted until June 15.
9th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HEALTH POLICY STATISTICS – Cleveland, Ohio – October 5–7 - REGISTRATION OPEN
The 2011 ICHPS, organized by the ASA’s Health Policy Statistics Section, will focus on advancing methods to improve health care through various studies and the quantitative analysis of data. The conference will include invited and contributed sessions and workshops intended to provide research training and career development in the methods, resources, and applications at the forefront of contemporary health policy research. The 2011 9th International Conference on Health Policy Statistics will be held October 5–7 at the Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, Ohio. Registration is now open!
ASA CONFERENCE ON STATISTICAL PRACTICE – Orlando, Florida – February 16–18, 2012
"To meet the needs of its various constituencies, the ASA decided through its strategic planning process to launch a new meeting aimed at statistical practitioners. That vision is coming to fruition in early 2012 with the ASA Conference on Statistical Practice. This month, I have invited Phil Scinto, chair of the Conference on Statistical Practice Organizing Committee, to give you an update on this new and exciting opportunity." ~ Nancy Geller, ASA President
The ASA proudly announces the inaugural ASA Conference on Statistical Practice. This early 2012 conference aims to bring 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. Read the article in Amstat News and watch the website for announcements and important dates!
EVENTS CALENDAR
Statistical events are happening around the country and the globe. View our Upcoming Events Calendar.
Off the Press
AMSTAT NEWS
Peace Through Statistics
The list of recent Nobel Peace Prize laureates goes as follows: 2009—Barack H. Obama, president of the United States of America; 2010—Liu Xiaobo, Chinese dissident; 2011—Miodrag Lovri? (Serbia), Jasmin Komi? (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Ksenija Dumi? (Croatia), statisticians. That's a joke, isn't it? Actually, no, but a possible (perhaps not very likely) outcome for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize award. Lovri?, Komi?, and Dumi?i? were among the 241 nominations (188 individuals and 53 organizations) entered by the February 1, 2011, deadline for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. What led to the nomination of a group of three statisticians for such a prestigious award? Read more.
FREE ASA JOURNAL ARTICLE DOWNLOADS
JBES
Nonparametric Identification and Estimation in a Roy Model With Common Nonpecuniary Returns, by Patrick Bayer, Shakeeb Khan, and Christopher Timmins
JCGS
Why Tables Are Really Much Better Than Graphs, by Andrew Gelman with discussion by Howard Wainer, William Briggs, Michael Friendly and Ernest Kwan, and Graham Wills
SBR
Improving Power by Dichotomizing (Even Under Normality), by Peter Westfall and part of the upcoming Special Issue: A Festschrift for Gary G. Koch
Free articles are also available for other journals through ASA Members Only. Look for articles marked FREE! And remember, ASA members automatically receive free online access to JASA, JBES, JCGS, SBR, and TAS.
SIGNIFICANCE MAGAZINE ONLINE WEB EXCLUSIVES
Ditching the landline
As discussed in a previous Significance Web Exclusive (Outdated Polling Methods), a household’s primary phone source, either cellphone or landline, has important consequences for survey design. For one, cellphone-only households are different from landline households in areas such as race and age. Individuals can also keep the same cellphone number as they move from one county or state to another, adding an additional complication to the polling process. In some settings, these problems can be addressed by the poll’s design – but doing so is expensive. Read more.
Read other Significance Web Exclusives.
STN ISSUE 77 NOW ONLINE
The Statistics Teacher Network (STN) is a free newsletter published by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability for Grades K–12. Issue 77 is now online.
Member Opportunities
TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS INTEREST GROUP
The Transportation Statistics Interest Group seeks to re-establish itself as an ASA-affiliated group. The group will be composed of statisticians, economists, and analysts who are interested in (1) developing and applying statistical methods to problems in transportation, (2) analyzing transportation data, (3) collecting transportation data, and (4) formulating mathematical models that describe and explain underlying mechanisms or processes in transportation. At least 25 signatures of ASA members are needed to submit to the Council of Sections Governing Board for the governing board to recognize it as an ASA-affiliated interest group. If you are interested in joining this non-dues interest group, please email Peg Young.
ACCREDITATION
The ASA's accreditation program is modeled after programs in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Accreditation is a portfolio-based—rather than an examination-based—credential, and is renewable every five years. Accreditation is voluntary. Applicants seek accreditation because they believe the credential is worthwhile to them, but it is not a requirement for practice. The ASA has accredited more than 80 members since beginning the program. Find out what our Accredited Professional Statisticians are saying about the PStat. The ASA has accredited nearly 100 members since the beginning of the program.
AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Deadlines and contact information for ASA national awards, special lectureships, and COPSS awards can be found by visiting the following links: ASA awards, ASA scholarships, and COPSS awards.
THE JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND GRAPHICAL STATISTICS IS CELEBRATING ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY!
To celebrate, each issue in the 20th volume will include pieces bringing the past to the present in computational and graphical statistics innovations and ideas. There also will be two invited papers at this summer's JSM: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of JCGS: Highlights at the Interface and Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Parallel, Adaptive, and Automated Monte Carlo Methods Appearing in JCGS. The 20th anniversary brings one more benefit: All ASA members have free online access to JCGS! Simply log in to ASA Members Only and you will find your access link under My Publications.
JUDGES SOUGHT FOR ASA PROJECT COMPETITION
The ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability is seeking judges for the ASA Project Competition. Judging takes place via email during the summer and requires about four hours of your time. If interested, please email Jamis Perrett.
POSTER AND PROJECT COMPETITIONS – DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR PROJECT COMPETITION – JUNE 9
Introduce K–12 students to statistics through the annual poster and project competitions directed by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on 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 are due every year on April 1. Projects, for all grades, are now due on June 9.
Feedback, comments, or suggestions are welcome please email asamail@amstat.org with your ideas.