AMSTATNEWS the Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association •

August 2013 • Issue #434 AMSTATNEWS The Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association • http://magazine.amstat.org

ASA Accreditation: Everything You've Wanted to Know

ALSO: ASA 2013 Statistics Poster and Project Competition Winners

Promoting the Science of Regulatory Statistics in Support of Regulatory Decisionmaking

AmstatNews August 2013 • Issue #434 Executive Director Ron Wasserstein: [email protected] features Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Stephen Porzio: [email protected] 3 President’s Corner Director of Programs 6 Journal of Statistics Education Highlights Lynn Palmer: [email protected] New Year Brings Changes Director of Science Policy 6 Honor Colleagues, Give to ASA Steve Pierson: [email protected]

Director of Education 7 Tune in to Podcasts from Biopharmaceutical Section Rebecca Nichols: [email protected] 7 Pioneers of Industrial Statistics: An Interview with Stu Hunter Managing Editor 8 University of Buffalo Biostatistics Department Celebrates Megan Murphy: [email protected] 10 Years Production Coordinators/Graphic Designers Melissa Muko Gotherman: [email protected] 8 Biopharmaceutical Symposium to Offer Tutorials, Kathryn Wright: [email protected] Short Courses Publications Coordinator 9 Toward a Vision: Official Statistics and Big Data Val Nirala: [email protected] 14 ASA Accreditation: Everything You've Wanted to Know Advertising Manager Claudine Donovan: [email protected] 16 Technometrics Highlights Dimensional Analysis Featured in August Issue Contributing Staff Members Jeff Myers • Rebecca Nichols • Rick Peterson 17 Rice University to Host StatFest 2013

Amstat News welcomes news items and letters from readers on matters of interest to the association and the profession. Address correspondence to Managing Editor, Amstat News, American Statistical Association, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314-1943 USA, or email amstat@ amstat.org. Items must be received by the first day of the preceding month columns to ensure appearance in the next issue (for example, June 1 for the July issue). Material can be sent as a Microsoft Word document, PDF, or within an email. Articles will be edited for space. Accompanying artwork will be accepted 18 MASTER'S NOTEBOOK in graphics file formats only (.jpg, etc.), minimum 300 dpi. No material in WordPerfect will be accepted. Where Does a Statistician Fit in the Big Data Era? Amstat News (ISSN 0163-9617) is published monthly by the American This column is written for statisticians with master's degrees and highlights areas of Statistical Association, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314- 1943 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and additional employment that will benefit statisticians at the master's level. Comments and sug- mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Amstat News, 732 gestions should be sent to Megan Murphy, Amstat News managing editor, at megan@ North Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314-1943 USA. Send Canadian amstat.org. address changes to APC, PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Rich Hill, Amstat ON L4B 4R6. Annual subscriptions are $50 per year for nonmembers. Contributing Editor News is the member publication of the ASA. For annual membership rates, see www.amstat.org/join or contact ASA Member Services at (888) 231-3473. Andy Hoegh is a graduate student at Virginia Tech, researching predictive fusion methods for big, messy data sets. He is also a statistical col- American Statistical Association laborator in Virginia Tech’s Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical 732 North Washington Street Analysis (LISA) and the network outreach coordinator for StatCom. Alexandria, VA 22314–1943 USA (703) 684–1221 • FAX: (703) 684-2037 ASA GENERAL: [email protected] ADDRESS CHANGES: [email protected] Hoegh AMSTAT EDITORIAL: [email protected] ADVERTISING: [email protected] WebSite: http://magazine.amstat.org 20 STATtr@k Printed in USA © 2013 A Statistician in an Insurance Agency American Statistical Association STATtr@k is a column in Amstat News and a website geared toward people who are in a statistics program, recently graduated from a statistics program, or recently entered the job world. To read more articles like this one, visit the website at http://stattrak.amstat.org. If you have suggestions for future articles, or would like to submit an article, please email Megan Murphy, Amstat News managing editor, at [email protected]. Promoting the Practice and Profession of StatisticsTM

Contributing Editor The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest Andy Pulkstenis is a program director of analytics for State Farm community of statisticians. The ASA supports excellence in Insurance in Bloomington, Illinois. In this role, he leads a team of the development, application, and dissemination of statistical advanced analytics professionals providing statistical analysis and science through meetings, publications, membership services, predictive modeling support for the enterprise across a variety of education, accreditation, and advocacy. Our members serve in business units. industry, government, and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to Pulkstenis inform public policy and improve human welfare. columns 22 175 Promoting the Science of Regulatory Statistics in Support of Regulatory Decisionmaking The ASA will celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2014. In preparation, column “175”— written by members of the ASA’s 175th Anniversary Steering Committee and other ASA members—will chronicle the theme chosen for the celebration, status of preparations, activities to take place, and, best yet, how you can get involved in propelling the ASA toward its bicentennial.

Contributing Editor Robert T. O’Neill is the senior statistical advisor for the Office of Translational Sciences in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration. He is a Fellow of the American Online Articles Statistical Association and Society for Clinical Trials. The following articles in this issue can be found online at http://magazine.amstat.org. O'Neill

The Jeanne E. Griffith 2013 Mentoring Award Winner is Brian Harris-Kojetin, a senior statistician in the Statistical and Science Policy office at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Harris-Kojetin, in conveying his thanks, talked about how the ceremony departments was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the legacy of Jeanne Griffith each year and that he was deeply 23 statistician's view honored to have been selected for this year’s award. Read about the award and ceremony at http:// 24 education magazine.amstat.org. USCOTS 2013: Making Change Happen ASA 2013 Statistics Poster and Project Make the most of your ASA membership Competition Winners Visit the ASA Members Only site: www.amstat.org/ membersonly.

Visit the ASA Calendar of Events, an online database of statistical happenings across the globe. member news Announcements are accepted from educational and 34 Awards and Deadlines not-for-profit organizations. To view the complete list of statistics meetings and workshops, visit 35 People News www.amstat.org/dateline. 38 Section • Chapter • Committee News

Many of the sections and committees sponsor 42 Professional Opportunities events and host workshops and meetings. For details about these events and other news, make sure you visit our section, chapter, and committee pages online at http://magazine.amstat.org.

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2 amstat news august 2013 president's corner

ASA Delegation to Cuba n 2010, People to People Ambassador Programs (www. peopletopeople.com), an orga- nizationI that has been facilitating trips expanding global awareness since 1956, approached the ASA about the possibility of taking a delegation abroad. After careful consideration, the ASA leadership decided this would be a unique outreach opportunity. And so was born the tradition of ASA presidents leading a delegation of ASA members to a different country every year. In 2010, then President Sastry Pantula chose China (http://bit. ly/15HnL31) and led a delegation on a 12-day exploration of the country’s culture and its statistical training programs, infra- The delegation at the University of Havana with Luis Ramiro Pineiro, dean of the faculty of structure, and literacy. 2011 mathematics and computer science (first row, far right) President Nancy Geller followed with a People to People trip to Israel (http://bit.ly/18jitP2), and, graduated a number of students. International Year of Statistics last year, current Past-President Geert and several of his col- (www.statistics2013.org). Bob Rodriguez led a delegation leagues have visited Cuba more ASA Executive Director Ron to Russia (http://bit.ly/18gmQqF). than 20 times, working with Wasserstein and I contacted In mid-2012, it was my turn to students and presenting short many people across the profes- choose a country to visit this year. courses, and they have reported sion, and, overall, the reaction For some time, I have heard the strong interest among Cuban was supportive. So I decided to from European and South- statisticians in promoting the make Cuba my choice, accepting American colleagues about the role of statistics in research and that there would be some ASA long tradition of scholarship government and in expanding members who would not agree. in mathematics and statistics interaction with statisticians Because People to People was not in Cuba. From 2006 to 2011, abroad, as has Clarice Demétrio, yet licensed for travel to Cuba, we Geert Molenberghs coordinated 2012–2013 president of the switched to Professionals Abroad, a Cuban-Flemish outreach pro- International Biometric Society a division of Academic Travel gram through the Center for (www.biometricsociety.org), who Abroad (ATA), a company with Statistics (CenStat) at Hasselt has also given short courses there. more than 50 years of experience University (www.uhasselt.be/ Because of the political situa- arranging educational travel. Marie Davidian censtat) in Belgium focused on tion between the U.S. and Cuba, When the trip was announced introducing biostatistics training I knew that an ASA delegation last October, some ASA members and research at the University to Cuba might be controversial. expressed disapproval of an ASA of Havana (www.uh.cu) in col- However, given all I had heard delegation to a communist coun- laboration with biotechnology and with the 2011 easing of try, but otherwise the response institutes in the Havana region. restrictions on Americans’ travel was overwhelmingly positive. This project resulted in the cre- to Cuba (http://nyti.ms/1bgblmJ) The main concern was the cost. ation of a master’s program in I decided to explore the possi- As with all delegations, it is high biostatistics administered by the bility. Outreach to a statistical because it includes almost every- university’s faculty of mathemat- community keen to initiate more thing—travel, accommodations, ics and computer science (www. global collaboration seemed most meals, transportation with- matcom.uh.cu), which has already consistent with the spirit of the in the country, English-speaking

august 2013 amstat news 3 The delegation and Cuban colleagues

guides, and all necessary visas in government, public health, sightseeing (Plaza de la and licenses. No ASA funds are and health care; and opportuni- Revolución, El Capitolio), and used for any delegation; each par- ties for collaboration. I conveyed dinner in Old Havana. ticipant is responsible for his/her this to the Cubans, wondering The next day, our immersion own costs. how they could possibly assemble into statistics in Cuba began at ATA began working with a program exposing us to all of Casa de la Amistad, a center for Amistur (www.amistur.cu/home. this in a meaningful way. scientific exchange in the heart of php?lang=en), the Cuban people- They did. A few weeks before Havana. The morning featured to-people agency responsible for the trip, I received the tenta- presentations by Luis Ramiro, coordinating the program and tive agenda from ATA. I was Carlos, and colleagues (adeptly providing a guide/translator and floored—four days of systematic translated by Amircal when bus. Shortly thereafter, I began to presentations, meetings, and tours required) on statistical education receive emails from Cuban statis- covering not only everything we and methodological research ticians, who put together a com- had requested, but things we at the university, including the mittee to work with Amistur to didn’t even know to request. master’s programs in biostatis- arrange the scientific agenda. On May 19, the 18-member tics and statistics and the PhD Soon, I was in regular com- delegation departed Miami for program, and on biostatistics munication with Luis Ramiro Havana. Among us were acade- training for health professionals. Piñeiro, dean of the faculty of micians; statisticians from the I gave an overview of the ASA mathematics and computer sci- Food and Drug Administration and International Year, followed ence at the university; his col- (FDA), National Institutes of by brief presentations of back- league Carlos Bouza, in charge Health, Google, and the U.S. ground and interests by each del- of the group on probability and Census Bureau (retired); and egation member. That afternoon, statistics; and Pedro Valdés-Sosa, even a PhD student. We were we visited the university and the vice director for research at the met by our outstanding Amistur mathematics and statistics facili- Cuban Neuroscience Center guide, Amircal, outside of cus- ties. The quality of the academic and internationally known in toms, where he stood holding a programs and research is high, in statistical modeling of neuro- sign reading “American Statistical spite of (to us) limited compu- imaging data. I also heard from Association,” which subsequent- tational resources and access to ASA members signed up for the ly was displayed on the wind- scholarly publications. trip, requesting exposure to how shield of our bus. The rest of On Tuesday we were back at statisticians are trained; their the day included an orientation Casa de la Amistad for presenta- research; how they are involved and review of the agenda, tions on the diversity of statistical

4 amstat news august 2013 activity in public health. Overviews of the role of statisticians in general and specifically in the Institute for Tropical Medicine; the Animal Sciences Institute and other agri- cultural centers; the Institute for Cybernetics, Mathematics, and Physics; the Center for Medical Genetics; and the clinical research programs at Havana’s enormous Hermanos Ameijeiras General Hospital were fascinating. The level of sophistication and range of research projects were impressive. We learned of the work of statisticians maintaining and analyzing data from the National Cancer Registry, which longitudinally U.S. and Cuban colleagues discuss possible collaborations on the final day of the visit at Casa de follows every cancer patient in la Amistad. the country. National registries for twins, birth defects, and National Statistical Information Of course, we did take time familial disorders support robust Office (www.one.cu) and were during the week to explore the research programs in genetics provided statistical reports on city and culture. Amircal (a and genetic epidemiology. Cuba’s population and resources. former English professor with The third day, we traveled to Thursday had us back at Casa an impressive command of the so-called “Scientific Pole” de la Amistad for a full morning American colloquialisms) was in the western part of Havana, of unstructured interchange with an expert not only at transla- home to a cluster of biomedical virtually all statisticians we met tion, but also on the history of and biotechnological research during the previous three days. the city, country, and people. He institutes. At the Center for Groups of Cubans and Americans regaled us with background on Molecular Immunology (CIM) with common interests formed Old Havana and its architecture (www.cim.co.cu/index_en.php), spontaneously, and we discussed and suggested “non-tourist” res- we heard presentations about in-depth possibilities for future taurants and salsa clubs. clinical and bioinformat- collaboration. My group, com- We left Cuba with tremendous ics research from statisticians prising biostatisticians involved respect for our new colleagues. We at the CIM, the Genetic and in clinical research, identified a all admitted amazement at our Biologic Engineering Center, the concrete first step: We will col- prior lack of knowledge about the Neuroscience Center, and the laborate on substantive research vitality and breadth of activity of National Coordinating Center projects centered on CIM stud- the Cuban statistical community. of Clinical Trials. The latter is ies of lung cancer and psoriasis, Their goal is to enhance the qual- effectively a contract research which will undoubtedly lead not ity of their methods and domain organization that coordinates only to joint publications, but science research and practice pharmaceutical, biologic, and also to identification of needed through interaction with statisti- device trials for major companies research and eventually what we cians in the United States, whom worldwide, as well as for the gov- hope will be an ongoing relation- they regard as being at the fore- ernment organization devoted ship. The country’s remarkable front of the field. We have set up to commercialization of CIM- health data resources are a poten- a Google site through which we derived biopharmaceutical prod- tial treasure trove that can drive can share materials and resources. ucts (www.cimab-sa.com/index. both substantive advances and In saying farewell, we agreed that php?&idm=2) and administers a methodological research. while our governments might dis- network of clinical sites through- Other groups discussed pos- agree, that should not stop our out the country (an FDA site sible joint educational initiatives, communities from forging a fruit- visit was, in fact, upcoming). and several of us agreed to return ful statistical partnership. That afternoon, we visited the to Cuba next year to teach short University’s Center of the Study courses on topics such as survival of Demography (CEDEM) analysis and causal inference. (www.cedem.uh.cu) and the

august 2013 amstat news 5 Journal of Statistics Education Highlights New Year Brings Changes Michelle Everson, JSE Editor

wenty years ago, in July, and it is hoped that social media editor, and you can find a the Journal of Statistics will be a way for JSE readers to description and call for papers at Education (JSE, www. share and discuss articles and www.amstat.org/publications/jse/ Tamstat.org/publications/jse) was issues related to statistics educa- v21n1/jacobbe_K12.pdf. Papers launched under the leadership tion. Those who want to join for this new department can be of E. Jacquelin Dietz from the Facebook group can either submitted at [email protected] or sent Meredith College. To commem- search for “Journal of Statistics to Jacobbe at [email protected]. orate the 20th anniversary, the Education” when logged on to Most exciting is a new July 2013 issue (www.amstat.org/ Facebook or go directly to www. webinar series affiliated with publications/jse/contents_2013. facebook.com/groups/4865531980 the Consortium for the html) takes a look back at some 48126/?fref=ts. The Twitter han- Advancement of Undergraduate of the first articles to be pub- dle for JSE is #JStatEd. Statistics Education (CAUSE, lished in JSE. We also take a look A new department was www.causeweb.org). Each month, forward as we think about the announced in the March 2013 the authors of one or two papers future of JSE. issue called Research on K–12 from JSE will share their work JSE is branching out in differ- Statistics Education. Tim during a live web presentation. ent ways. It now has a presence Jacobbe, from the University These presentations are then on both Facebook and Twitter, of Florida, will serve as the recorded and posted at www. causeweb.org/webinar/jse. The first JSE webinar took place June 18 and featured presentations by Amy S. Nowacki Honor Colleagues, Give to ASA from the Cleveland Clinic Memorial funds provide an opportunity to honor departed colleagues while promoting and Todd Schwartz from The the careers of promising statisticians. ASA members have opened several funds in the University of North Carolina names of family members and friends, and most need donations to make them viable. at Chapel Hill. The second JSE Lingzi Lu Memorial – An award is being created by the ASA in partnership with webinar took place on July 16 the International Chinese Statistical Association in remembrance of Lingzi Lu. The and featured Kirsten Doehler first-year student in the master’s program in statistics at Boston University lost her and Laura Taylor, both from life in the bombing at the Boston Marathon in April 2013. The award will support Elon University. A third is sched- a master’s degree student or recent master’s graduate by providing support for travel uled to take place August 20 to the ASA’s annual Conference on Statistical Practice. and will feature Lawrence Lesser Martha Aliaga Memorial – An award to support statistical educators is being from The University of Texas created by the family and friends of Martha Aliaga, former University of Michigan at El Paso, Robert Carver from faculty member and ASA staff member who passed away in 2011. Her memorial Stonehill College, and Patricia award will promote the careers of those who share her passion for education. Erickson from Taylor University. Bernie Harris Memorial – Family and friends of longtime ASA member and The August webinar will focus faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are establishing an award on a March 2013 JSE article in honor of Bernie Harris, who passed away in 2011. The Harris award will promote titled “Using Fun in the Statistics the careers of young statisticians. Classroom: An Exploratory Lester R. (Randy) Curtin Memorial Award – Details of this award in honor of Study of College Instructors’ Randy Curtin, who passed away last year, can be found in the July 2013 issue (http:// Hesitations and Motivations.” bit.ly/1apQtqk). JSE maintains a mailing list for To contribute to any of these awards, you may do the following: those who want to receive alerts when new issues are published and 1. Send a check made out to the American Statistical Association, with a notation announcements about upcom- indicating the memorial fund you wish to support. Address your mail to the ing webinars. If you wish to be ASA at 732 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314, attention Steve Porzio. part of this email list or you have 2. Donate online by going to http://bit.ly/1490WGy, checking the third bullet, questions or comments about JSE, and typing in the name of the award. contact JSE’s editorial assistant, Jean Scott, at [email protected]. n

6 amstat news august 2013 Tune in to Podcasts from Biopharmaceutical Section Rima Izem and Richard C. Zink

magine radio statistics, a radio station that interesting or timely panel session coming up at would allow you to tune in to a pitch for the the Biopharmaceutical Section FDA-Industry latest statistics paper or book; hear a book Workshop or Joint Statistical Meetings you would review;I or hear about upcoming conferences, train- like to highlight? Have something to get off your ing, or workshops. Tuning in will help you stay chest? Let us know! We can record interviews in-per- abreast of what is new in the statistical sciences son or over the phone, or even tutor you on how to whenever convenient—on your morning jog, on record your comments. Of course, we are happy to your commute to work, or while you are waiting for have volunteers, should you be interested in develop- your statistics program to compile. The podcasts by ing content. Contact Rima Izem at rima.izem@fda. the Biopharmaceutical Section are a step toward hhs.gov or Richard Zink at [email protected] to making radio statistics a reality. share your ideas. n Podcasting is a continuing education tool of our time. What is a podcast? The online Oxford Dictionary defines it as “a multimedia digital file made available on the Internet for downloading to a portable media player or computer.” Our goal with the podcasting initiative is to contribute audio con- Pioneers of Industrial tent for our members that is free and convenient and will enhance everyone’s continuing education experience in statistics. Statistics: An Interview Our initial podcasts are interviews addressing a variety of topics. Jingyee Kou and Alan Hartford, with Stu Hunter 2012 Biopharmaceutical Section FDA-Industry Lynne Hare Workshop co-chairs, discuss the goals of the workshop, the special way sessions are included in the Did you ever wonder how the use of statisti- program, and events that were introduced in 2012 cal thinking and methods began in compa- and how they were received by workshop partici- nies such as General Electric, DuPont, and pants. Stan Altan and Tim Schofield describe the General Motors? We are better statisticians motivation behind the special nonclinical issue of and better as a statistical community when Statistics in Biopharmaceutical Research. They also we know more about our statistical roots. define nonclinical statistics and discuss the unique With this in mind, a small group of challenges for statisticians working in this area. statisticians launched a series of interviews A recent podcast is an interview with Stephen with J. Stuart Hunter—emeritus profes- Hunter Senn at the 2013 Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical sor at Princeton University, first editor of Technometrics, past president of the ASA, Industry (PSI) Annual Meeting. We briefly dis- 2 cussed his recent Statistics in Medicine paper, “Seven co-author of BH , and honorary member of ASQ—to hear about Myths of Randomisation in Clinical Trials,” and who he thinks did much to expand the creation, knowledge, and he shared his thoughts about his participation in application of statistical thinking and methods to the betterment the plenary session titled “This House Believes That of industry and society. Drug Development and Regulation Should Become The interviews are impromptu and brief, each lasting no more Fully Bayesian.” The last podcast is an interview with than 12 minutes. They are intended for those who: Biopharmaceutical Section chair Amit Bhattacharyya. • Teach statistics and believe, as we do, that student famil- He introduces the section and describes his long- iarity with development context aids understanding term volunteering roles and goals for the section in 2013. To access these and other podcasts, visit • Wish to know more about the origins of the methods they use http://community.amstat.org/BioP/Podcast. • Enjoy Hunter’s easy, affable style of presentation We need to hear from our best sources of future As Brian Joiner put it so well, “Stu is the Johnny Appleseed of content: You! Is there a special topic, such as statistics.” Wouldn’t we all do well to learn from his examples and nonclinical statistics, you would like to share methods? Interviews may be seen at http://bit.ly/1anVgse. with a wider audience? Is there a particularly

august 2013 amstat news 7 University at Buffalo Biostatistics Department Celebrates 10 Years Alan David Hutson

n 2002, Alan Hutson joined department. A key to moving this Observatory, a key research cen- the University at Buffalo process forward was the recruit- ter in the school with a mission (UB) from the University of ment of Randolph Carter from similar to the original Bureau Florida.I He found there was just the University of Florida. of Business and Social Research, one faculty member and one lec- Carter and Hutson were the established in the 1920s. The turer left in the division from the primary architects of new MA department also has strong par- old department of statistics and and PhD programs in biostatis- ticipation within the Gynecology no active graduate program. A tics. The actual degree programs Oncology Group (GOG) with key development in the history were a merger of the old MA and service on several GOG commit- of the department was that a new PhD programs in statistics with a tees. The GOG statistics office school of public health and newer set of biostatistical courses is headed by John Blessing (UB health professions was formed in integrated. Also during this time, graduate) and located in Buffalo. 2003 at UB through the merger an MPH degree with an empha- In 2006, the first four MA of the department of social and sis in biostatistics was established. degrees in biostatistics were award- preventive medicine and the In 2005, Hutson agreed to ed. The department celebrates the school of health professions. The chair both the UB and Roswell annual Richard Schmidt Award division of biostatistics was Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) for Outstanding PhD Student. moved into the new school as department of biostatistics (now In addition, the department part of this merger. biostatistics and bioinformatics at established the Sidney Addelman With the support of the upper RPCI), such that the department Award for Outstanding MA administration, the depart- of biostatistics essentially spans Student and the M. Mahamunulu ment of biostatistics was offi- two institutions and has 21 pri- Desu Outstanding Student Paper cially created in 2003. A critical mary faculty members and sev- Award. In 2007, the first gradu- agenda item for Hutson was to eral affiliated faculty members. ate PhD degree in biostatistics was re-establish a graduate presence Also in 2005, Carter took over as awarded to Antara Majumbdar. at UB for the newly formed director of the Population Health One highlight of that day is that C.R. Rao served as an honorary dissertation committee member. Rao now has a faculty appoint- Biopharmaceutical Symposium to ment in the department. The department has been in Offer Tutorials, Short Courses continual motion since 2002. In The 20th anniversary meeting of the Biopharmaceutical Applied Statistics Symposium 2012–2013, there were 55 grad- (BASS XX) will be held November 4–7 at the Double Tree (by Hilton) Hotel in downtown uate students in the program and Orlando, Florida. more than 2,000 undergradu- At least 16 one-hour tutorials on diverse topics pertinent to the research, clinical devel- ates were taught through service opment, and regulation of pharmaceuticals will be presented by speakers from academia, teaching. We anticipate 50 new the pharmaceutical industry, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). graduate master’s and PhD stu- Two parallel one-day short courses will be presented November 6–7, and the key- dents to arrive for Fall 2013. note address will take place on November 5, with a reception following. The FDA We developed an undergrad- biometrics session will be the morning of November 6. uate minor in statistics, with the BASS is a nonprofit entity, sponsored by the department of biostatistics at first new students enrolling in Virginia Commonwealth University and the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Fall 2010. We also established Health at Georgia Southern University. Its purpose is to raise funds for graduate a new MS degree program in fellowships in biostatistics. bioinformatics and biostatis- To date, 50 graduate students have been supported by funds raised by BASS. tics that started in Fall 2010, For more information, visit www.bassconference.org, contact the BASS registrar joint with RPCI. One of our at [email protected], or contact Karl E. Peace at (912) 478-7905 or most recent high-profile hires, [email protected]. Marianthi Markatou, is associate editor of JASA. n

8 amstat news august 2013 Toward a Vision: Official Statistics and Big Data Cavan Capps and Tommy Wright, U.S. Census Bureau

very day of our lives, each official statistics. Here, we we also conduct a census of the of us is bombarded with share our thoughts about this economy, measuring counts data. More recently, there topic to further a conversation, of different types of businesses hasE been an explosion of data, with attention given to official and some characteristics of their Cavan Capps is the and it is nearly impossible to statistics provided by the U.S. activities, as well as a census Census Bureau lead on Big ignore the increasing volume of Census Bureau. of governments. Data, and Tommy Wright and potential use for Big Data. With a great deal of our While censuses are our pri- is chief of the Center for For example, a paper pub- work integrally linked with the mary source of counts and some Statistical Research and Methodology. This article lished on the High-Level roots of our nation’s democracy, characteristics, sample surveys is released to encourage Group for the Modernisation the Census Bureau does much are conducted more frequently discussion. The views of Statistical Production and more than the constitutionally (e.g., monthly, quarterly, and expressed are those of the Services’ website (www1.unece. required census every 10 years to annually) of people, housing, authors, and not neces- org/stat/platform/display/hlgbas) in redistribute the seats in the U.S. businesses, and governments sarily those of the U. S. March 2013 notes the following: House of Representatives among to provide current estimates of Census Bureau. the states. In addition to drawing their characteristics. Measures The sentiment in Dutch social boundaries for representation at produced by our demographic media messages was found all levels of government, our data sample surveys (many operated to be highly correlated with assist in the allocation of hun- in partnership with other federal Dutch consumer confidence; in dreds of billions of dollars per agencies) include unemployment particular with the sentiment year in state and federal funding and other labor force character- towards the economic situation. to local, state, and tribal govern- istics, income, government pro- The latter relation was stable ments. Our data also are used to gram participation and eligibility on a monthly and on a weekly plan economic development and data, purchases of specific goods basis. … assess the need for schools, hos- and services, time use, education pitals, job training, etc.; to plan characteristics, illnesses, disabil- In the Netherlands, communities and predict future ity, health, types and incidence approximately 80 million needs; to plan the location of of crime, science/engineering traffic loop detection records roads and public facilities; and work force, housing, poverty, are generated a day. These to analyze social and economic and health insurance coverage. activity and trends. In brief, our Measures produced by our eco- data can be used as a source data products and those of other nomic sample surveys include of information for traffic statistical agencies provide infor- dollar value of retail sales, inven- and transport statistics and mation about our people: who tory, wholesale trade activities, potentially also for statistics on we are, how many we are, what receipts and revenues for service other economic phenomena. we do, where we live, and how industries, manufacturing, con- The New York Times reported we live. struction, finances, state and in February 2012 that, “In eco- local tax revenues, state and nomic forecasting, research has How the Census Bureau local government employment, shown that trends in increas- Collects, Provides Data imports, exports, transportation, ing or decreasing volumes of At a very high level, our data communications, and utilities. housing-related search queries in products result primarily from The use of administrative Google are a more accurate pre- the implementation of censuses, records is increasing. One exam- dictor of house sales in the next sample surveys, administrative ple is our Population Estimates quarter than the forecasts of real records, and statistical model- Program, which develops and estate economists.” ing. We conduct a census every disseminates annually estimated Federal statistical agencies 10 years that primarily provides population counts of the popula- produce official statistics. While counts of people (including lim- tion and associated characteristics Big Data are generally not offi- ited demographics) and counts for the nation, state, counties, cial, we believe there are oppor- of all habitable dwellings in the and functioning governmental tunities where they can enhance United States. Every five years, units. Records from the Internal

august 2013 amstat news 9 Revenue Service help with our Changes, Changes, no more than hundreds of estimates of internal migration. Changes millions (108) of records, This program also develops and while Big Data come in As has been noted by many, our disseminates estimated counts of big volumes and make use society is increasing in complex- state- and county-level housing of galaxy-type prefixes to ity. We are highly mobile, tech- units. National and state-level describe their sizes (e.g., tera- nological advances are rapidly population projections also are 1012, peta-1015, exa-1018, changing how we live, data users produced. We also make use of zetta-1021, and yotta-1024). want more data in more detail, statistical methods (e.g., model- and data collection costs are 2. Official statistics are dissemi- ing) to increasingly provide esti- increasing while data collection nated every decade, every mates for small domains such as and processing budgets are not. five years, annually, quar- subpopulations and low levels As a result, questions abound. terly, and monthly, while Big of geography. What to measure? How to mea- Data can be disseminated To conduct censuses and sam- sure? What can we measure? practically instantaneously or ple surveys, we send question- How frequently should we mea- just about every second as is naires via the postal service and sure? What resources do we have the case, for example, with Internet, administer question- to measure? financial data. naires using the telephone, and knock on doors to conduct face- And There Is Big Data … 3. Official statistics are to-face interviews. Quality con- obtained largely by asking, trol and assurance efforts are in Digital transaction data are ubiq- and response assumes per- place to ensure high-quality data uitous and growing. Financial mission to use, while Big products. Providing important transactions previously done with Data come as byproducts of social and economic indicators paper checks or cash are now other primary activities and for more than two centuries also done with credit or debit cards, or without asking explicitly. increasingly with smart-phones. has yielded major advances and 4. Official statistics tend to be improvements in data collection Online news and blogs replace newspapers, search engines record labor intensive, subject to methodology (including many human error and costly, while by others) that are noteworthy: the trends of people’s interests, and social media provides trends Big Data are mainly digitally 1. Probability sampling theory on what people are discussing. captured and available and and methodology help us Smart phone GPS data provide seem to be relatively cheap. generalize from samples to traffic congestion data for Google 5. Official statistics are the result populations maps. E-commerce transactions of careful data collection 2. Assessment of nonsampling provide signals as to what items design with clearly defined errors (e.g., inaccurate or cost and which demographics are uses, while Big Data come inconsistent responses) is buying them. Local governments with unknowns (e.g., uses are possible, and we can com- are making data available via less clear, data are less under- pensate for many of them, Internet APIs for public access. stood, data are of unknown including nonresponse Internet use is growing; there are quality, and representativeness more devices connected to the is largely unknown). 3. Dissemination of data and Internet in the U.S. than peo- access to data by users has ple. Smart phone use continues Complementary Roles improved and increased to grow, and the trends are not 4. Significant progress has been expected to reverse. for Official Statistics and made in protecting privacy Can we ignore this growing Big Data and confidentiality of our ocean of digital data? Avoiding Big data come with great prom- respondents a formal definition of Big Data, ise for official statistics, as they we present a few compari- can enhance and strengthen offi- Official statistics in the sons reflecting our impressions cial statistics. Leading potential United States are grounded in the between official statistics that complementary roles for Big scientific method and constantly result from censuses, sample sur- Data include the following: subject to scientific review; they veys, administrative records, and are understood, they are authori- statistical modeling on the one 1. Providing variables to help tative, and they are credible. hand and Big Data on the other: us stratify better for our However, they are not perfect, sample surveys and they are not free. 1. The size of databases for official statistics tend to be

10 amstat news august 2013 2. Improving sample survey • Opinion data (e.g., com- Two recent events are worth estimates provided by meth- ments on social media) noting. In June 2011, the ods (weighting, ratio, regres- McKinsey Global Institute Big Data are generally not the sion estimation, unequal released the highly cited report result of careful design to provide probability sampling, Big Data: The Next Frontier for reliable measures. For example, balanced sampling, adap- Innovation, Competition, and sample surveys show that Twitter tive methods, imputation, Productivity, which defines Big users are younger than the gen- modeling, calibration, post- Data and provides seven key eral public, and hence results stratification, etc.) calling for insights and opportunities. On from Twitter cannot represent the auxiliary variables that do not March 29, 2012, the White general population. When news need to be perfect; these aux- House announced a $200 mil- reports cover a topic, Twitter feeds iliary variables just need to be lion Big Data research and devel- increase on that topic. Big data are correlated with our primary opment initiative to help the signals or proxies for economic variables of interest United States make the most of and social behavior. To compen- this opportunity. 3. Helping us compensate for sate for inherent biases, Big Data nonresponse are in need of evaluation and base- Opportunities with Big lining with data of known quality. 4. Helping us check our Can Big Data reliably supply Data for Small-Area estimates the social, demographic, health Estimation 5. Helping us improve the fre- behavior, and business activity Nearly all monthly statistics and quency and timeliness of our information required for a 21st- economic indicators are only data releases century society? Our current released for the national level. 6. Helping us improve and answer to this question is, “Not However, many analysts need provide more small-area yet.” Given the growing concern timely estimates at a sub-county estimates over privacy and confidentiality level, because most cities are con- related to Big Data, our nation tained in counties. The property, Sources of Big Data may not ever want or trust Big crime, education, transportation, Data to serve as a source for offi- and other economic development • Administrative data that cial statistics. However, statisti- data are different for the inner cit- arise from the administra- cal agency infrastructures are in ies and outer suburbs within the tion of a program, be it place to critique and address the same county. Some investment governmental or not (e.g., accuracy, consistency, and inter- occurs at a metropolitan level, electronic medical records, pretability of the results produced and other commercial or social hospital visits, insurance from Big Data. With this infra- investment occurs on a neighbor- records, bank records, and structure, the Census Bureau is in hood level. Good business thrives food banks) position to incorporate relevant on good data. Producing timely • Commercial or transactional Big Data sources while ensuring and reliable small-area data based digital data that arise from the consistency of official statis- only on sample surveys cannot be the transaction between two tics, providing interpretation of done in the current environment entities (e.g., credit card them, and improving their rel- of limited budgets. transactions, online trans- evance and timeliness. Small-area estimates rely on actions—including from Integrating official statis- statistical models that require mobile devices tics and Big Data require sta- predictor variables, often either • Sensor data (e.g., satellite tistical and computational for low levels of geography or for imaging, road sensors, and methods capable of produc- small subpopulations. The sup- climate sensors) ing unbiased and reliable esti- ply of good predictor variables mates of social and economic for use in small-area estimation • GPS tracking devices (e.g., indicators. Increased judicious is limited. Currently, sufficient tracking data from mobile blending of design-based official statistics do not exist for telephones) and model-based sampling small areas, and Big Data might • Behavioral data (e.g., online methods offer real options, just be able to supply a variety searches about a product, especially if we view Big Data as of variables (within budget) that service, or any other type of a source of auxiliary variables. only need to be correlated with information and online Such efforts may require new our primary variables of interest page views) computational techniques and to improve estimates. software/hardware architectures.

august 2013 amstat news 11 Another of the obstacles to business start-ups, local govern- Topologically Integrated releasing small-area estimates ment sales, and shipping activity Geographic Encoding and for demographic characteristics (e.g., barge, shipping, rail, truck- Referencing (TIGER) (www. or business characteristics is the ing, FedEx, and UPS). Finally, census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/ need to ensure the confidential- there are many requests for small- tiger.html) geographic informa- ity of all released data. The U.S. area estimates for health and other tion system (GIS) files. Today, Census Bureau is required to social data, including educational the Census Bureau processes and ensure that individual people participation, crime, health behav- manages massive administrative or companies cannot be identi- ior, and disease spread (e.g., flu, files like these routinely. fied from Census Bureau data. heart disease, ADHD, cancer). Construction statistics have Estimates modeled from sample Business analysts argue that used commercial administra- survey data and Big Data integra- data made available close to certain tive data sources to establish tion may provide a way to make events (or the period of measure- the sampling frames for construc- increasingly detailed small-area ment) are valuable. In response to tion activities. estimates available while decreas- Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Using Big Data, the Census ing the risk of identification. Sandy, users requested timely Bureau might be able to release There are many examples of information about economic preliminary data estimates much statistics users have requested at activity impact and reconstruction closer to the time of an event. small geographic levels that might costs. Additionally, timely data These estimates would need revi- be improved with Big Data. These on small areas regarding occu- sion after being base-lined with include requests for small-area pational and business activity designed sample survey data. housing and construction data, during the recent recession might Some data estimates that might be including housing permits, hous- have been useful in targeting stim- released this way include potential ing sales, foreclosures, housing val- ulus funds. preliminary estimates for county ues, property taxes, construction business patterns, minority or starts, and commercial construc- Current Efforts in women-owned small business tion values. There are also requests Producing Small-Area start-ups, housing sales and fore- for business activity data, includ- Estimates closures, and transportation data ing retail sales, durable goods such as mass transit and bicycle The Census Bureau uses statisti- sales, data on business clusters and traffic that would reflect seasonal cal models to integrate data from supply chains, interests in small changes in transportation patterns. different sample surveys and Other estimates might include administrative data sources to personal discretionary income, create modeled small-area esti- consumer confidence, Internet mates. Some of these include esti- usage, health insurance participa- mates that are produced by the tion and use, disability, child care, Small Area Income and Poverty educational issues, and college or Estimates (SAIPE) Program professional school enrollment. (www.census.gov/did/www/saipe), Small Area Health and Income Current Activities Estimates (SAHIE) Program (www.census.gov/did/www/sahie), (Research, Testing, and Longitudinal Estimates for Experimentation …) Household Dynamics (LEHD) In addition to the recent move Program (http://lehd.did. to use the Internet as one of sev- census.gov). These programs have eral modes to collect data in the released successful data prod- American Community Survey ucts for some time, and they are and the extensive testing and accepted by both the scientific planning to do the same for the and data user communities. 2020 Census, the Census Bureau is sponsoring active research Other Opportunities administered by the National for Big Data Science Foundation to improve The Census Bureau traditionally measurement of economic and processes massive data sets like demographic characteristics with the Decennial Census. It also statistics based on administra- continually updates the tive data, social media streams, web-based data, and geospatial

12 amstat news august 2013 data. The research objective is to provide more accurate and less Other Issues improve estimates while reducing costly estimates of the Census How will the scientific establish- costs and respondent burden. Bureau transportation data pack- ment react to official statistics, The Census Bureau is con- ages, but privacy and confidenti- especially small-area estimates, tinuing to experiment internally ality concerns must be addressed. that rely on Big Data? What will with web scraping. There may be the public perception of these be useful Internet data available Challenges and Issues estimates? Will the costs associ- for residential housing permits Arguably of utmost importance ated with Big Data prove to be and sales, crime incidence, state is the protection of privacy and unacceptable relative to the ben- and local government sales, and confidentially. There is growing efits? Can we understand and property taxes. Corporate finance public concern over privacy issues describe what Big Data represent; data also might be available. State in the online data space. Recently, can we understand and quantify and local government web appli- there has been increasing atten- the quality of Big Data? cation program interfaces (APIs) tion in the press to publish con- Throughout this process, the exist to download available state cerns about Big Data intrusions Census Bureau must maintain its and local data. on privacy. This concern has tradition of keeping its complete We are continuing to grown to be so important that, in estimation processes transparent explore the quality of commer- February 2012, the White House and reproducible. cial e-transaction data to track developed a framework for data aggregate retail sales and whole- privacy titled Consumer Data Looking to the Future sale transactions, perhaps to Privacy in a Networked World: A The Census has a long his- provide lower-level geography Framework for Protecting Privacy tory of innovation. Herman estimates and housing foreclosure and Promoting innovation in the Hollerith invented the punch data. To reduce escalating sur- Global Digital Economy (www. card for the 1890 Census vey costs, we are exploring more whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ (http://1.usa.gov/U54zpn); the administrative and commercial privacy-final.pdf). The basic prin- first civilian computer was used data for accurate housing address- ciples of this framework include for the 1950 Census. The first ing and commercial cell phone the following: official sample survey (http:// numbers for more cost-effective 1.usa.gov/13KrwXE) was used telephone surveying. (a) Individual Control by the Census Bureau to mea- Specifically, the Census (b) Transparency sure unemployment in 1937. Bureau is exploring how it can (c) Respect for Context Some of the basic technology for use local records to more seam- GIS was developed in the Dual lessly and continually update (d) Security Independent Map Encoding/ the 2020 Census address lists (e) Access and Accuracy Graphic Base Files (http:// and maps, rather than waiting to 1.usa.gov/15fEh8d) efforts for the receive such information as part (f) Focused Collection 1970 Census and TIGER for the of a one-time decennial update. (g) Accountability 1990 Census. Local records may be helpful in Each of these innovations was targeting decennial operations to Knowing that the accuracy done to reduce escalating cost hard-to-count groups or those in and validity of our data directly and to preserve official statistical certain geographic areas. depend on our protection of integrity. For these same reasons, Research for the 2020 Census privacy and confidentiality, the the Census Bureau will continue also is exploring the use of para- Census Bureau continues to to explore the possibility of using data (additional data describing work to improve procedures the explosion of Big Data to what happens as data are being that take into account new data reduce cost, reduce reporting bur- collected), along with admin- sources to prevent identification den, and increase the effectiveness istrative and longitudinal data and actively address public con- of national statistical estimation. to improve the cost and effec- cerns about privacy. The use of These benefits will accrue tiveness of “responsive/adaptive modeling strengthens the confi- only if the Census Bureau can design” (https://fedcasic.dsd.census. dentiality of small-area estimates. continue to preserve individual gov/fc2013/program.php?id=22) The Census Bureau needs to and corporate confidentiality, methods for census and sample continue to educate the pub- working to earn and preserve the survey data processing. lic about the processes in place public’s trust. n Anonymous cell phone GPS to ensure confidentiality and data may be integrated with privacy, as well as the laws that other demographic data to enforce them.

august 2013 amstat news 13 ASA Accreditation: Everything You’ve Wanted to Know he ASA’s accreditation program is entering the How do I apply? second half of its first five-year cycle. ASA The ASA’s Accreditation Committee recommends Executive Director Ron Wasserstein answers the following steps: Tsome common questions about the program. • Read through the Guidelines for Voluntary Where do I find information about ASA accredita- Professional Accreditation tion (PStat®)? • Take a look at the sample application form, The details about the accreditation program are at available at http://bit.ly/1497FjK www.amstat.org/accreditation. At this web page, you • Indicate your interest by filling out the “Request will find the ASA’s Guidelines for Voluntary Professional an Online Application” form. You’ll find a but- Accreditation, which lay out the requirements to ton to take you to the form on the accreditation receive accreditation by the ASA. Information about homepage (www.amstat.org/accreditation). how to apply, who already has been accredited, and more can be found there as well. If you don’t find the • Within a few days (often within a few hours), answers you need, write me at [email protected] or call you will receive an email message telling you me at (703) 684-1221. Teri Utlaut, chair of the ASA’s how to access your individual online application. Accreditation Committee, also is available to answer your questions. Teri’s contact information and a list What materials do I need when I apply? of all the members of the Accreditation Committee is Your application must include a CV or résumé, a cover available on the accreditation website. letter outlining for the Accreditation Committee how you meet the requirements for accreditation, a list of Do I qualify to be accredited? degrees earned, a detailed list of relevant work experi- ASA members with an advanced degree in statistics, ence, examples of statistical work you have done, a biostatistics, or a related quantitative field with suf- list of professional development activities you have ficient concentration in statistics and five years of recently undertaken, and contact information for two qualified work experience are eligible to apply. To be people who will serve as references. accredited, applicants must demonstrate that they meet those two criteria, that they are competent What if I am unable to supply examples? practitioners of statistics at a level commensurate Some statisticians work on materials that are pro- with those criteria, that they have good communica- prietary and therefore may not have the right or tion skills, and that they are committed to ongoing authority to share such work with the Accreditation professional development. Also, accredited statisti- Committee. If that’s the case, contact me and we cians agree to abide by the ASA’s Ethical Guidelines will explore options. for Statistical Practice (http://bit.ly/1qCBP2). Who should my references be, and what will they Do I take a test? be asked? No. The ASA’s accreditation program, like similar Your references should be people who are familiar programs in Australia, Canada, and the United with your statistical work. At least one of them Kingdom, are portfolio-based, rather than exami- should be a professional statistician, someone nation-based. By the way, the ASA is the new kid who is accredited or who has the qualifications on the accreditation block. These three other coun- to be accredited. When you submit your applica- tries have been offering accreditation for much lon- tion, your references will receive a link to an online ger (20 years in the UK, for example). But other reference form. The form is brief and asks the ref- countries are developing similar programs. As erence to speak to your professional competence, one example, I recently have had the privilege of communications skills, and commitment to profes- working with our colleagues in Sweden, who are sional development and ethical statistical practice. considering a program very similar to the ASA’s.

14 amstat news august 2013 Why so many hoops? promote the practice and profession of statistics. So it I am frequently asked this question, sometimes would be great if accreditation was a source of positive in roughly the following way: “I have a PhD in net revenue for the ASA, but it is not. Accreditation is, statistics and have been practicing statistics for more however, an important service to members. than 20 years. Why do I have to go to all this trou- Why should I apply for accreditation? ble, and for crying out loud, why do I need references?” The short answer is that it is a matter of This might be the most important question of all. fairness. The ASA Board requires the Accreditation The question addresses the value of accreditation Committee to carefully and consistently evaluate to the individual and to the profession. The title of each applicant, whether the applicant just meets the document laying out the criteria for accredita- the requirements (i.e., has the minimum education tion reveals important aspects of the ASA’s program: and experience) or far exceeds them. So, we ask all Guidelines for Voluntary Professional Accreditation applicants to supply the same kind of background by the American Statistical Association. Foremost information to document their qualifications. is that the program is voluntary. Accreditation is not licensure. That is, one does not have to have How is my application reviewed? accreditation to practice statistics the way one must Each application is reviewed by at least three members be licensed to practice law, for example. of the Accreditation Committee (which has 18 mem- But the important word after “voluntary” is “pro- bers). Reviewers have been trained on the accreditation fessional.” Accreditation brings value to both mem- guidelines and how to evaluate applications against the bers of the profession and those who benefit from criteria for accreditation. Reviews are handled confi- the work of professional statisticians. dentially, and committee members recuse themselves Viewed from the profession, accreditation tes- from any applications for which they have a conflict tifies that there is a body of knowledge known as of interest. In addition, applicants may ask for specific “statistics,” that accredited practitioners must be committee members to not review their application. well versed in that knowledge at an advanced level, and must have applied it competently and ethically What if my application is unsuccessful? through practice for several years to be considered a The long-term goal of the Accreditation Committee professional. And, as rapidly as the theory and prac- is to accredit statisticians, not to exclude them. tice of statistics evolves, so must professional statisti- However, it is the responsibility of each applicant to cians continually stay abreast of new developments demonstrate that she or he meets the criteria. If an in their areas of expertise. applicant is unsuccessful in doing so, the applicant Of course, one does not have to be accredited receives a letter from the committee indicating what to have these qualities, but accreditation is one wit- will be needed to achieve success in a future attempt. ness to the wider world that statisticians are pro- Reapplying is easy, in the sense that an applicant does fessionals, akin to architects, doctors, engineers, not have to start from scratch, and the cost is mini- and lawyers. mal. However, unsuccessful applicants should careful- Why is this important? Many issues that have ly consider and fully address the information the com- an effect on our daily lives—our health and safety, mittee has provided in the letter before reapplying. work, standard of living, and the policies of our governments—are crucially influenced by statistics. How much does it cost? Sound statistical practice informs sound decisions, There is a $120 charge to apply for accreditation leading to better policymaking and better outcomes. and an annual fee of $85 to maintain accreditation. Incorrect or unethical use of statistics can produce However, this annual fee is easily recouped through misleading results, poor advice, and bad choices. savings available to accredited members, who receive That is, the practice of statistics is a job for skilled a 20% discount on Continuing Education registra- professionals. Accredited statisticians are recognized tion at JSM and a 20% discount on registration fees by their peers as combining education, experience, for the Conference on Statistical Practice. In addition, competence, and commitment to ethics at a level accredited members have free access to all LearnStat that labels them as professionals. In addition, accred- OnDemand materials (http://bit.ly/1dCdIx3). itation provides a measure of assurance to employers, contractors, and collaborators of statisticians and is a Isn’t accreditation just a money-maker for the ASA? mark of accomplishment to society at large. As your executive director, I must point out that it is highly desirable for the ASA to have money-making Who has been accredited so far? activities. Those type of activities help pay for the On the accreditation website is an up-to-date list of ASA’s other mission-related activities (education and accredited members. The Accreditation Committee advocacy, for example) that don’t make money, but are invites all qualified statisticians to become accred- critical to who we are as a society and what we do to ited and join this growing list. n

august 2013 amstat news 15 Technometrics Highlights Dimensional Analysis Featured in August Issue Hugh A. Chipman, Technometrics Editor

imensional Analysis Unfortunately, DA experi- to an incorrect DA model. When (DA) is a fundamental ments are underused because this happens, the DA model will method in the engineer- few statisticians are familiar with fail and experimentation will be Ding and physical sciences for ana- them. In “Experimental Design largely wasted. To protect against lytically reducing the number of for Engineering Dimensional this possibility, they develop a experimental variables affecting a Analysis,” Mark C. Albrecht, robust-DA design approach that given phenomenon prior to Christopher J. Nachtsheim, integrates the best of standard experimentation. Two powerful Thomas A. Albrecht, and R. empirical DOE with the sug- advantages associated with the Dennis Cook provide an over- gested design strategy. Results method, relative to standard view of DA and give basic rec- are illustrated with straightfor- design of experiment approaches ommendations for designing DA ward applications of DA. This are (1) a priori dimension reduc- experiments. They also consider article features discussion by Tim tion and (2) scalability of results. various risks associated with the Davis, Daniel D. Frey, Bradley The latter advantage permits the DA approach, the foremost Jones, V. Roshan Joseph, experimenter to effectively extrap- among them being the possibil- Dennis K.J. Lin, Greg F. Piepel, olate results to similar experimen- ity that the analyst might omit a Matthew Plumlee, Weijie Shen, tal systems of differing scale. key explanatory variable, leading and C. F. Jeff Wu and a rejoinder by the authors. Radiation detection systems are deployed at U.S. borders to guard against entry of illicit radioactive material. Each vehicle slowly passes by a set of fixed radiation sensors, resulting in a ‘vehicle profile’ consisting of a time-series of counts. In “Moving Neutron Source Detection in Radiation Portal Monitoring,” Tom Burr and Michael S. Hamada evaluate the efficacy of six detection methods under different vehicle and illicit material scenarios. One of these methods, a novel estimated matched fil- ter that estimates the shape of a neutron count vehicle profile, is shown to be especially effective at signaling illicit profiles. The goal of multivariate receptor modeling is to estimate the profiles of major pollution sources and quantify their effects based on ambient measurements of pollutants. Despite the growing availability of multi- pollutant data collected from multiple monitoring sites, there has not yet been any attempt to incorporate spatial dependence

16 amstat news august 2013 that may exist in such data. In rates within the populations of results are employed to design “Multivariate Receptor Models conforming and nonconforming an efficient procedure for finding for Spatially Correlated Multi- parts. For high-capability pro- minimax designs for small candi- Pollutant Data,” Mikyoung Jun cesses with low misclassification date sets. A heuristic procedure and Eun Sug Park propose a spa- rates, the standard plan of ran- is proposed to generate near- tial statistics extension of multi- domly sampling parts requires a minimax designs for large candi- variate receptor models. The large number of measurements. date sets. proposed method yields more An alternate design, where ran- The issue concludes with precise estimates of source pro- dom sampling is from the sets “A Bayesian Approach for files. More importantly, it enables of previously passed and failed Model Selection in Fractionated predictions of source contribu- parts, can precisely estimate the Split Plot Experiments with tions at unmonitored sites as well parameters of interest with many Applications in Robust as when there are missing values fewer measurements. Parameter Design.” In the paper, at monitoring sites. The problem of choosing a Matthias H.Y. Tan and C.F. In many areas of science, one design that is representative of a Jeff Wu extend Bayesian vari- aims to estimate latent subpopu- finite candidate set is an impor- able selection techniques to split lation mean curves based only tant problem in computer experi- plot experiments. The approach on observations of aggregated ments. The minimax criterion accounts for split plot error population curves. For example, measures the degree of represen- structure, resulting in an appro- in near-infrared spectroscopy, a tativeness via the maximum dis- priate analysis. A novel algorithm single spectral profile is the aggre- tance of a candidate point to the efficiently explores model space, gate for a complex mixture of sev- design. A significant stumbling identifying models with high eral constituents. Disentangling block in the use of such designs is posterior probabilities and pro- such signals is the subject of the availability of good construc- viding estimates of these proba- “A Hierarchical Model for tion algorithms. Matthias H.Y. bilities. Robust parameter design Aggregated Functional Data,” by Tan, in “Minimax Designs for represents a natural application Ronaldo Dias, Nancy L. Garcia, Finite Design Regions,” makes for split-plot experiments, with and Alexandra M. Schmidt.” A a useful connection between hard-to-change (e.g., control) Gaussian process approach using minimax designs and the classi- factors corresponding to whole B-spline basis functions to model cal set covering location problem plots. Two real robust parameter the covariance function, com- in operations research, which is design examples demonstrate the bined with a full Bayes hierarchi- a binary linear program. These advantages of the method. n cal model, provides full inference and assessment of uncertainty. Two real examples illustrate the method: NIR spectroscopy and an analysis of distribution of Rice University to Host energy among different types of consumers. In manufacturing, a bina- StatFest 2013 ry measurement system may Rice University is hosting StatFest 2013, a one-day conference need to provide 100% inspec- aimed at encouraging undergraduate students from histori- tion to protect customers cally under-represented groups to consider careers and graduate from receiving nonconform- studies in the statistical sciences. The conference will take place ing product. In “Assessing a October 12. Binary Measurement System The conference is an ongoing initiative of the ASA through with Varying Misclassification its Committee on Minorities in Statistics. It includes presenta- Rates When a Gold Standard Is tions from established professionals, academic leaders, and current Available,” Oana Danila, Stefan graduate students that will help attendees understand the oppor- H. Steiner, and R. Jock MacKay tunities and routes for success in the field. Panel forums include consider assessment plans and information and tips for a rewarding graduate student experience, their analysis when an avail- achieving success as an academic statistician, and opportunities in able gold standard system is too the private and government arenas. expensive for everyday use. New Attendance at the conference is free, though registration is random effects models allow for required. To register and obtain more information, visit http:// variation in the misclassification statfest.com.

august 2013 amstat news 17 columns

Master’s Notebook Where Does a Statistician Fit in the Big Data Era? Andy Hoegh

n an era with a plethora of personal quality in the following hierarchical models. Additionally, cheap, vast data in which four domains: exposure to non-probabilistic buzzwords such as Big Data, machine learning techniques 1. Numeracy in mathematics dataI analytics, and data mining such as classification trees pro- and numerical computing have been integrated into the vides tools that are useful in common vernacular, it is worth 2. Articulacy and people skills solving real problems. asking where the statistician fits 3. Literacy in technical writ- Articulacy in. Several years ago, I described ing and programming statistics as the “science of data.” Articulacy is not a requirement Now, with a more comprehen- 4. Graphicacy unique for statisticians, as it is a sive understanding of the field valuable skill in all occupations and data science referring to Using the structure of and social situations. However, something seemingly different O’Brien’s argument, I will our profession has a stereotype for from statistics taught in the tra- describe essential skills residing a dearth of aptitude in this disci- ditional classroom, I’d like to in the four domains of the ideal pline, so extra attention is war- revisit what statistics is. modern statistician. ranted here. Requisite in the artic- Specifically, I’ll address the ideal ulacy component is the ability to skillset necessary for a modern Numeracy efficiently work in a team envi- statistician to be an integral part Traditional statistical training ronment and communicate with of this Big Data era. on methodology and computing statistical peers and non-tech- ASA President Marie resides in the numeracy compo- nical audiences alike. Defining Davidian’s article, “Doctoral nent. O’Brien states that the ideal and solving real problems rarely Training in Statistics and statistician must be sufficiently allows a statistician to retreat and Biostatistics: Where Are We mature in using mathematics and work in isolation. The problem- Headed?” (http://magazine. numerical computing to define solving process begins with input amstat.org/blog/2013/03/01/ and solve real problems. Science from team members, which often prescornermar13) reflects on and designed experiments/statis- include scientists from other dis- what statistics is through the lens tics often go hand-in-hand, and ciplines. Understanding their dis- of graduate school training. It’s a thorough understanding of sta- cipline and the scientific question worth reading. Considering this tistics as it relates to the scientific is imperative before constructing article and the master’s core cur- method is still essential. a statistical model. riculum in the statistics depart- However, a majority of the Next, the statistician must be ment at Virginia Tech provided data necessary to solve novel able to explain clearly the methods me with the motivation to under- problems doesn’t come from the used to address the problem to stand and describe the ideal tools realm of carefully designed exper- both a technical and non-technical for a 21st-century statistician. iments these days. Information audience—often simultaneously. Ralph O’Brien’s talk on often is multimodal, messy, and The final step is communicat- the Completely Sufficient of a form that is naturally char- ing the findings with an engag- Statistician (http://stattrak.amstat. acterized numerically—genetic ing presentation. The skills of org/2010/10/01/csspart1) provides information, images, or text. the articulate statistician may a useful framework for describing These challenges require develop- not come as naturally as those the skills and talents of a statisti- ment of methodology and com- in the numeracy component or cian. O’Brien describes the ideal puting tools to make inferences be as heavily stressed in a clas- statistical scientist as one that and predictions. Bayesian meth- sical education, but they can develops and maintains a broad ods and the associated Markov be learned. Most graduate pro- range of technical skills and Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) grams have some sort of statisti- methods are fruitful for specify- cal consulting component, such ing and estimating complicated as Virginia Tech’s Laboratory

18 amstat news august 2013 columns for Interdisciplinary Statistical ability to efficiently scrape, sort, visualization is focused on telling Analysis (LISA), that provides and manage data is a liberating a story without the principles of training and access to relevant skill that the ideal modern statis- statistical inference. The modern problems. Pro-bono statisti- tician possesses. statistician has expertise in statistical cal groups such as StatCom or graphics and competence in Statistics without Borders also are Graphicacy statistical visualization. great ways to gain experience and The final component is graphi- The most valuable contribu- hone articulacy skills. cacy, which focuses on effective tion of a statistician is the abil- displays of data. Having taught ity to contribute to solving real Literacy courses on statistical graphics, I problems. With vast data sources O’Brien states that literacy find it important to understand available and numerous complex, includes technical writing and the distinction between tradi- interesting, and relevant prob- programming. In a basic sense, tional statistical graphics and data lems to focus statistical machin- literacy is defined as the ability visualization. Statistical graphics ery on, it is an exciting time to be to read and write. So, within the are often exploratory and used to a statistician. context of the statistician, literacy inform statistical models. Statistical This article has explored the refers to the ability to read and graphics also can be the endgame, components of an ideal modern write technical documents and displaying important findings, statistician through the lens of computer code. Hence, when but typically statistical machinery O’Brien’s “completely sufficient faced with an unknown problem, underlies these displays. statistician.” Using the statistical an ideal statistician would be able Data visualization, another definition of sufficient, this clever to read academic literature to of those en vogue buzzwords, play on words suggests a modern understand existing solutions. includes infographics and statistician contains all the neces- After understanding existing displays of data that are often sary information (knowledge) to methods, it may be necessary to more artistic than typical successfully address and answer use numeracy skills to develop statistical graphics. Data pressing questions of our era. n improved techniques. Once a technique has been formulated and the model can be written down, computations need to be carried out. Literacy in programming implies the ability to implement calculations using existing software packages and develop new code when necessary. Technical writing, sharing newly created knowledge via published papers, is the final task. Much like articulacy, literacy is not the main focus of graduate education, particularly for master’s students. Nonetheless, these skills can be learned, and advanced prowess proves extremely beneficial. As an aside about programming, having worked with computer scientists in a few interdisciplinary projects, the difference in programming skills is striking. Statisticians often start the process with a neatly ordered CSV file in which each row represents a single observation and the columns correspond to variables. While not a requirement in many statistical settings, the

august 2013 amstat news 19 columns

STATtr@k A Statistician in an Insurance Agency Andy Pulkstenis

o you’ve made the decision to pursue a career in over the past 10 years, and the outlook appears even statistics, but what now? Generally speaking, more outstanding. there are four primary employment avenues: Various companies (and even entire industries) S are realizing the importance of proper analyt- • Academia ics and the value tools like predictive modeling, • Government experimental design, and regression-based business • Biostatistics analysis add to a firm. When they make a successful movie starring Brad Pitt about baseball teams • Business using statistical analysis to direct player acquisition Multiple articles could be written about each of strategies, it’s safe to declare that analytics has gone those areas, but I want to speak specifically to those mainstream. The emergence of Big Data concepts who are contemplating an applied statistics career in continues to force the issue, requiring old school, a business setting. Excel-based MBA approaches to be replaced with more powerful statistically based methods. Why Should I Consider Business? As demonstrated by “Moneyball,” better analysis leads to better strategic insight, which in turn Security: Whether you call it business analyt- leads to better decisions and a direct positive impact ics, data mining, predictive modeling, or applied on the metrics that matter to an organization. The statistics (at State Farm, we call it “advanced statistician’s toolbox comes loaded with method- analytics”), growth in this area has been explosive ology and approaches well suited to the problems encountered in a business setting, and quite frankly the demand continues to dramatically outpace supply. It was an issue when I entered the work force What gets you the job? nearly 20 years ago, and it’s even worse today. If you • Master’s degree or above (statistics) are a well-trained statistician, that’s what we call a “buyer’s market.” At State Farm, we’re always on the • Internships/applied experience lookout for quality graduate-level statisticians. • Communication of technical concepts, especially the Variety: People often comment that you get to ability to map a business problem into the statistical play in everybody else’s sandbox as a statistician, and world and map the stat solution back into business that is true in business settings as well. Throughout terminology my career I’ve worked on problems involving credit cards, loans, marketing, the Internet, greeting cards, • Problemsolving grocery stores, airlines, tire manufacturers, auto • Technical ability (know “why” vs. just knowing “how”) manufacturers, theme parks, chemical manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies. In my current • Logistic regression with Big Data role at State Farm, my analytic project partners have • GLM/regression theory included actuaries, our banking business, marketing, our Internet group, insurance agents, claims, • Breadth and depth beyond logistic and GLM IT….It’s tough to get bored when you are always • Useful “niche” skills like DOE, time series, survival analysis, exposed to new parts of the business. or multivariate methods Variety (Part II): So the business areas are var- ied, but what about the methodology? Many people Deal breakers? have the mistaken idea that applied statistics in a • Poor communication business setting is basically straightforward logistic regression, linear regression, confidence intervals, • Technical inability rinse and repeat, but that couldn’t be further from • Being wrong, but convinced you are right the truth. Sure, those techniques are widely used and applicable to a broad number of business prob- • Lack of problemsolving ability lems, but I’ve also been involved with projects using • Faking it (know what’s on your résumé) advanced time series methodology, cluster analysis, PCA, nonlinear regression, experimental design,

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machine learning, multivariate outlier detection, is not usually a ton of published research to draw decision trees, and survival analysis over the past from. It may require pulling analysis ideas from bio- year. One thing I love about business analytics is statistics to apply to a small sample problem in auto how often and deeply we reach into the corners of research, or applying manufacturing quality control the stat toolkit. ideas to some non-manufacturing business process. Challenge: The complexity of the problems we Recently, my team had to find a way to apply pre- face in business is primarily driven by the following: dictive modeling concepts in a useful way to a situation in which we didn’t have a single instance of 1. The size and inherent bias of internal obser- a target variable! It can be quite challenging, but vational data sources incredibly rewarding, when successfully solving 2. Regulatory or organizational constraints some previously “unsolvable” problem that doesn’t around any solution we’d like to implement quite fit into anything we learned in our books. 3. An environment in which many conditions Academia, government, and biostatistics tend theoretically required for clean methodology to get more promotion at the university level, but are violated in one way or another don’t neglect this growing and rewarding field of “advanced analytics” in a business setting. The secu- The combination of all three often leads to chal- rity, variety, and challenge are off the charts, and lenging situations in which we are trying to find the breadth of techniques you’ll encounter present a the most helpful yet “least wrong” approach to the great environment for continuing to develop tech- problem versus finding the theoretically correct nically throughout your career while you grow as answer. And because business is competitive, there a professional. n

august 2013 amstat news 21 columns

175 Promoting the Science of Regulatory Statistics in Support of Regulatory Decisionmaking Reflecting on an exciting career and accepting the challenge Robert T. O’Neill

Many thought there were no of these regulatory issues, and interesting statistical problems at the FDA’s willingness to provide FDA. I thought otherwise, and human resources to support and despite the fluctuating challeng- build a program of professional es, frustrations, and constraints statisticians that were strong in placed on a government program methodology, consulting, and throughout a 40-year period, negotiating and affecting drug it was one of the best places for regulatory decisions. The FDA a biostatistician to work and regulatory environment is unique one that afforded any statisti- for statisticians in that the job began my career at the Food cian willing to invest the effort entails quantitative and personal and Drug Administration with opportunities. skills in planning, evaluation, (FDA) in July of 1971 as a For me, it has been an excit- data analysis, professional speak- newI PhD with a theoretical ing and challenging ride, as it ing, and interaction with the background in mathematical sta- has been for numerous statistical industry and academic statisti- tistics and biometry. However, colleagues who have contributed cians and other scientists. my undergraduate training was to the accomplishments and sta- My recollection of the growth in mathematics and the liberal tistical program that now exists of the statistical program begins arts, which has been critical to to support the FDA’s Center for with the 10 or so PhD-level statis- the development of my skill mix Drug Evaluation and Research. ticians recruited by Anello in the and I still believe is relevant to It also has been satisfying to see early 1970s and continues with the modern statistician operating how my statistical colleagues its expansion to about 160 stat- in a multidisciplinary world. Six developed and led the growth of isticians today. This growth came years of Latin, languages, philos- regulatory statistical programs in about in response to a variety of ophy, history, the sciences, and other FDA centers responsible regulatory needs in clinical trial the Jesuits will do that to you. for the public health areas of design and evaluation, preclinical I came to FDA largely because biologics, medical devices, foods, safety testing, and pharmaceuti- of Chuck Anello, who recruited and veterinary medicine. Review cal manufacturing quality con- me. Chuck had recently assumed science is different from most trol and testing; observational leadership of the statistics pro- other fields, few know about it study design analysis supporting gram and was building capacity until they experience it, and it epidemiological programs; and of PhD-level statisticians to sup- is different from the other major quantitative safety, post-approval port the FDA after new regula- areas of government-sponsored life-cycle evaluation of drug safe- tions laid the framework for statistical programs that have sur- ty, adverse event monitoring and substantial evidence of efficacy vey sampling at their core. surveillance, and active surveil- for new drugs to enter the mar- The growth of the biostatisti- lance under the congressionally ketplace. This was new to every- cal program in the pharmaceuti- mandated Sentinel System. one. There was no guidance, no cal area was fueled by a combina- The 1970s were mainly spent process, and little history to build tion of public health crises that evaluating clinical trials and safe- on, yet there was a lot of passion occurred over the years, the rec- ty studies that were not usually for doing something that would ognition that the science of sta- well designed or analyzed. These contribute to public health by tistics and applied statistics could evaluations led to developing using statistics. help solve and/or address some written guidance for conducting

22 amstat news august 2013 columns protocol and regulatory reviews increased and the collaborative biostatisticians to lead. You might of a new drug application, provid- research interest of these stat- ask why I stayed for so long. Well, ing advice to industry, document- isticians in regulatory research the answer is that there was never ing what was done, and assuring increased commensurate with a dull moment, a lot of excite- the quality of the reviews con- their influence at FDA, the last ment from the daily statistical ducted by an increasing number 15 years or so have witnessed a challenges, my decisions to accept of statisticians. Currently, there remarkable increase in published increasing levels of responsibility, are 17 medical divisions encom- regulatory statistical research by and the increasing satisfaction passing every drug disease area. FDA statisticians who, in my that what I was doing helped the The 1980s saw the develop- opinion, have contributed to a entire biopharmaceutical statisti- ment of guidance for industry, new field of regulatory statistics. cal profession live up to the chal- initial discussions about the use This occurred with analogous lenge and really contribute to the of data-monitoring committees growth and contributions from public health solutions. The path in industry-sponsored studies, industry statisticians who devel- is set for at least another 40 years the advent of the AIDS crisis oped white papers, supported the of exciting careers in regulatory that led to new paradigms such scientific positions taken by the statistics by those who are up to as accelerated approval based on PhRMA organization and other the challenge. n surrogate markers, and much professional societies, and contrib- more participation by patient uted to an explosion of literature advocates in drug development. and journals devoted in large part As new responsibilities were to biopharmaceutical statistics. placed upon FDA, new resources FDA became transparent in were provided to most FDA dis- how it performed its work, and STATISTICIAN'S VIEW ciplines, including statisticians. because of various freedom of This required the scaling up of information laws and public Dear Editor, the statistical program to several advisory committee initiatives, It is disappointing to note that no one in divisions that required statisti- external statistical advisors to “Members Reveal Why They Have Remained cian managers and leaders in all FDA have been a major source with ASA for Three Decades” (Amstat News, areas—a challenging job for any of additional advice and perspec- June 2013, http://magazine.amstat.org/ statistician, but one that provided tives on the evaluation of drug blog/2013/06/01/175june13) mentioned what FDA senior statisticians with the safety and efficacy. The long I think is the overriding motive for an indi- opportunity to lead and contrib- list of academic and other gov- vidual to become a member of the American ute in many ways, both internal ernment statisticians who have Statistical Association or any other profession- and external to FDA. served on FDA advisory com- al organization. The reason must be the one The 1990s began another mittees attests to these contri- Francis Bacon (1561–1626) epitomizes so well increase in resources from the butions, information on which in the following quotation: Prescription Drug User Fee acts, is available on FDA’s publically which were able to support the searchable website. I hold every man a debtor to his profession, infusion of new statisticians to So, having begun in an era of from the which as men of course do seek to the statistical program approxi- poor prospectively planned study receive countenance and profit, so ought they mately every five years. The new protocols, poorly designed paper of duty to endeavour themselves by way of millennium saw a new emphasis case report forms, paper-based amends to be a help and an ornament there- on safety assessment and the need clinical trial reports and data sets unto. for quantitative safety assessment and moving into an era with vir- This passage appears on the inside cover of skills, all in response to congres- tually everything electronically each issue of The Mathematical Gazette, a pub- sionally mandated responsibilities database oriented and connected, lication of the Mathematical Association in the placed on FDA and studies from the modern statistician at FDA United Kingdom. the Institute of Medicine and enjoys the best of all worlds, with This piece was pointed out to me many National Academy of Sciences. access to data, tools, software, years ago by the late Professor George A. Finally, as the statistical pro- and intellectual power that is Barnard, University of Essex. gram grew in number of stat- truly remarkable. isticians, it required some stat- However, the job is no eas- Yours sincerely, isticians to take on the role of ier. The problems are more Agnes M. Herzberg management and leaders to coor- difficult, and the science and Queen’s University dinate standards that could be statistical design and analysis Kingston, Canada equitably applied over all medi- issues continually challenge, cal areas. As this experience base creating new opportunities for

august 2013 amstat news 23 education

USCOTS 2013: Making Change Happen Allan Rossman, USCOTS Program Chair, and Jean Scott, CAUSE Program Coordinator

he fifth biennial to consider how to make pro- were asked to talk about how USCOTS took place ductive changes to their own they have affected change and May 16–18 at the teaching, their department how change has affected them. TResearch Triangle Embassy Suites and institution’s programs, and Presenters were further asked to in Cary, North Carolina. The to statistics education more make their presentations per- conference was hosted by broadly across the country and sonal, fun, and inspiring. These CAUSE (Consortium for the around the world. The con- presenters—Bob delMas, Chris Advancement of Undergraduate ference consisted of plenary Wild, Christine Franklin, Dalene Statistics Education) and the sessions, breakout sessions, Stangl, Danny Kaplan, Daren North Carolina State University “posters and beyond” sessions, Starnes, Hollylynne Stohl Lee, Department of Statistics. More technology demonstrations, and Mary Parker, Nick Horton, Rob than 400 participants—represent- pre-conference workshops. Gould, Robin Lock, and Shonda ing a wide range of institutions, One change in the conference Kuiper—succeeded at surpass- departments, and countries— program this year was to open ing these high goals, kicking off attended the conference. and close the conference with a the conference with a rousing The conference theme of series of five-minute presenta- and thought-provoking start. “Making Change Happen” tions with 10 slides displayed for Beth Chance, Dennis Pearl, aimed to challenge participants 15 seconds each. The presenters George Cobb, Jessica Utts, Roger

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Woodard, and Roxy Peck used “Posters and beyond” sessions the same five-minute format enriched the program with even in the closing session to con- more opportunities for one- clude the conference on a high on-one discussions of topics of note and inspire participants to common interest. More than 50 make change happen when they poster presenters participated in returned home. the conference. Plenary presentations ener- The conference banquet, gen- gized conference participants erously hosted and sponsored by to consider how the discipline SAS, was held on Friday evening. of statistics is changing, how the Dennis Pearl, director of CAUSE, enterprise of education is chang- presented the CAUSE Lifetime ing, and how technology tools Achievement Award to Christine available for both teaching and Franklin of the University of practicing statistics are chang- Georgia for her tireless, extensive, ing. The first plenary session and profound contributions to was presented by Nick Horton undergraduate education and her Dennis Pearl (right), director of CAUSE, presents the of Amherst College and Danny passionate advocacy for K–12 sta- CAUSE Lifetime Achievement Award to Christine Franklin Kaplan of Macalester College. tistics education throughout the of the University of Georgia. They challenged the audience to country. Kim Gilbert, Starnes, and place more emphasis on helping Peck assisted with the presentation students make decisions and draw of this award by sharing personal conclusions from observational and professional reflections on the data and other data collected in lasting effects that Franklin has less-than-ideal conditions. had on students and colleagues. Hollylynne Stohl Lee of USCOTS participants also North Carolina State University enjoyed entertainment at this followed by urging participants year’s conference. The opening to join her in envisioning the session was followed with music skills and knowledge, both sta- by The Fifth Moment, a group of tistical and pedagogical, that are graduate students in the statistics desirable in a future K–12 teach- department at North Carolina er of statistics. State University. Songs included Xiao-Li Meng of Harvard “Advise Me Maybe,” “Shrink It,” University presented a case for and “I Think I’m a Bayesian.” achieving breadth and depth Larry Lesser of The University Hollylynne Stohl Lee of North Carolina State University of knowledge by emphasiz- of Texas at El Paso provided (one of the plenary speakers) ing not only interdisciplinary entertainment at the conference education, but also intergenera- banquet when he performed tional education. original compositions such as topics related to teaching statis- Chris Wild of the University of “Hit Me with Your Best Plot,” tics. Workshops were conducted Auckland concluded the plenary “The Gambler,” and “Y Hat on topics such as implementing presentations by presenting soft- Dance.” And Michael Posner of discovery projects, interactive ware tools that empower students Villanova University concluded probability instruction, learning at all levels to engage in data visual- the banquet entertainment by statistics by playing games, teach- ization explorations that can excite performing his A--sing contest ing statistics with R, addressing them about studying statistics. award-winning song, “Stats Can difficult concepts, implement- Breakout sessions provided Be Cool You See.” ing a randomization-based cur- participants with the opportu- A series of 10 pre- and post- riculum, technology innovations nity to engage with presenters on conference workshops afforded with JMP, online teaching, and a wide range of topics, including many USCOTS participants a grant writing. online learning, flipped class- chance to experience more hands- For links to presentation files, rooms, interactive software tools, on involvement with various song lyrics, and more, visit www. and teacher development. causeweb.org/uscots. n

august 2013 amstat news 25 education

ASA 2013 Statistics Poster and Project Competition Winners

he American Statistical Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2013 Poster Competition and Project TCompetition. First-place winners received $200, a plaque, a plaque for their school, and grade-appro- priate graphing calculators for the students and advisors provided by Texas Instruments. Second- place winners received $100 and a plaque; third- place winners received $50 and a plaque; and honorable mentions received certificates. The poster and project competitions are directed by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability, with Linda Quinn of Cleveland State University serving as the poster competition leader and Jamis Perrett of Monsanto Company serving as the project competition leader. K–12 posters are due every year on April 1. Projects (written reports) for grades 7–12 are due every year on June 1. Visit the competitions web page at www.amstat.org/education/posterprojects for information, including previous winners, entry forms, instructional webinars, and a rubric of how the posters and projects are judged. 2013 National Project Competition Winners Each year, the statistical project competition attracts a wide variety of submissions in which students from grades 7–12 conduct creative studies. The submission deadline for the project competition was changed to June 1 to enable participation from high-school students who may have been preparing for the AP statistics exam administered mid-May. This deadline also made it possible for teachers who might otherwise be busy at the AP reading to assist with the competition judging. The statistical project competition was especially useful for these students because it provided them with opportunities to apply all the statistical skills they had acquired throughout the school year to solve real-world problems of interest to them. Motivation to participate in the competition included monetary awards, plaques, and new Texas Instruments calculators. Results of the project competition and a list of the judges can be found at http://magazine.amstat.org/ blog/2013/08/01/poster-and-project/.

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2013 National Poster Competition Winners

GRADES K–3

FIRST PLACE Carson McCue Dunkin' Data The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain Las Vegas, Nevada

second PLACE Caden Fujii Languages Students Speak Roslyn Elementary School Roslyn, Pennsylvania

third PLACE Talitha Cheng How Old Is Lincoln? Rydal Elementary Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

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honorable mention Calder Small The Many Lost Teeth of 2nd Grade Copper Beech Elementary School Glenside, Pennsylvania

GRADES 4–6

first place Brandon Waters Is the Lady Young or Old? Hyde Park Middle School Las Vegas, Nevada

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second place Josephine Ruggieri Would You Make the Switch? Eileen Conners Elementary School Las Vegas, Nevada

third place Jackson Debusschere Olympic Success Wallingford Elementary School Wallingford, Pennsylvania

honorable mention Grace Marshall, Robert Isacksen, and Daniel Lassila Electric vs. Gas!! Which Car Is More Economical to Own? Kazoo School Kalamazoo, Michigan

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GRADES 7–9

first place Seungwon (Mei) Baek Maple Seeds in Wind Power Rachel Carson Middle School Fairfax, Virginia

second place David Wicklin Do Dryer Balls Reduce Drying Time? St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School Cary, North Carolina

third place Brianne Siple I Thought I Saw a Puddy Cat St. John Lutheran Grand Haven, Michigan

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honorable mention Sharon Marie Mathew and Christina Hanos Variables Responsible for Obesity in Counties in NY Clarkstown South High School West Nyack, New York

GRADES 10–12

first place (tie) Kelly Hall Do Male or Female Runners Improve More? Saline High School Saline, Michigan

first place (tie) Brianna Dombo Do New Teen Drivers Use Their Phones While Driving? Saint Joseph Academy Cleveland, Ohio

august 2013 amstat news 31 education

second place Owen Stewart A Color-Full First Impression Ed W. Clark High School Las Vegas, Nevada

third place Samuel Koffman Black Gold Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts

honorable mention Omotayo Agaja What Is the Best Way to Store Bread in Order to Preserve Its Freshness? Cleveland Heights High School Cleveland Heights, Ohio

32 amstat news august 2013 education

2013 Regional Poster Competition Leaders Connecticut Chapter Statistical Poster Competition Marianne E. Messina Bristol-Myers Squibb, Global Biometric Sciences Students outside the regional competition areas Oncology submit their posters directly to the ASA office, www.amstat.org/chapters/Connecticut/home/Poster/ which are then separately judged by the Washington poster_index.htm Statistical Society as part of the Other Region. The best posters from each region are sent to the nation- Kansas/Western Missouri Statistics Poster al judging. Information about regional poster com- Contest petitions and winners is available on the individual Ananda Jayawardhana regional poster competition websites. Pittsburg State University http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~ananda/ Get Involved PosterContest.html For information about how to start a region- Michigan Statistics Poster Competition al poster competition or mentor students in Dan Frobish your area, see the article in the July 2011 issue http://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2011/07/01/ Department of Statistics, Grand Valley State at poster-comp-how-to University . You can download a flyer about www.gvsu.edu/stat/mspc-home-30.htm the ASA poster and project competitions and other K–12 statistics education programs and resources Nevada K–12 Statistics Poster Competition to share with your local schools at the bottom of www.amstat.org/education David Thiel . For additional informa- Clark County School District tion or questions regarding how to get involved in www.amstat.org/chapters/nevada/ the poster or project competitions, contact Rebecca n k12postercompetition.html Nichols at [email protected].

Ohio Statistics Poster Competition Jerry Moreno John Carroll University www.bio.ri.ccf.org/ASA/poster.html

Pennsylvania Statistics Poster Competition Pete Skoner Saint Francis University, Science Outreach Center www.francis.edu/paposter.html International Conference on Washington Statistical Society Poster Health Policy Statistics Competition Barnali Das Chicago, Illinois • October 9-11, 2013 Westat www.amstat.org/education/posterprojects The International Conference on Health Policy Statistics (ICHPS) will focus on creating interfaces between methodologists and Other Region/ASA National Poster Competition sophisticated health service researchers, health economists, and Leader: Linda Quinn, Cleveland State University policy analysts so they can exchange and build on ideas they will Contact: Rebecca Nichols, ASA Director of disseminate to the broader health policy community. Education, [email protected] www.amstat.org/education/posterprojects See www.amstat.org/meetings/ichps/2013 for details. Early registration ends August 30, 2013

Organized by the Health Policy Statistics Section of the ASA

august 2013 amstat news 33 awards and deadlines

Nominations Sought for Zelen Leadership Award The department of biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health named John J. Crowley the recipient of the 2013 Marvin Zelen Leadership Award in Statistical Zelen Science. Crowley, group statistician and director of the statistical center for the Southwest Oncology Group and president and CEO of Cancer Research and Biostatistics delivered a lecture titled “A Brief History of Survival Analysis” on May 24 at Harvard University. Supported by Marvin Zelen’s colleagues, friends, and family, the Marvin Zelen Leadership Award in Statistical Science was established to honor his role in shaping the biostatistics field. Individuals in government, industry, or academia who have influenced the theory and practice of statistical science by vir- tue of their outstanding leadership are eligible. While individual accomplishments are considered, the most distinguish- ing criterion is the nominee’s contribu- tion to the creation of an environment in which statistical science and its applications flourish. The award recipient delivers a public lecture on statistical science at the Harvard School of Public Health and is presented with a citation and honorarium. Nominations for the 2014 award— to be given in May/June 2014—must be received by December 1 and should be sent to the Marvin Zelen Leadership Award Committee, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115 or via email to vbeaulie@ hsph.harvard.edu. Include a letter describing the contributions of the candidate, specifically highlighting the criteria for the award, and a curriculum vitae. Supporting letters and materials would be extremely helpful to the committee. n

34 amstat news august 2013 people news Causality in Statistics Education Prize Winners Announced

ast month, the American Statistical Association announced the first Causality in Prize Committee Members Statistics Education Prize, which was estab- lishedL to “encourage the teaching of basic causal Dennis Pearl (OSU, CAUSE, Maya Petersen (Berkeley) inference methods in introductory statistics courses.” co-chair) Michael Posner (Villanova) The prize this year goes to Felix Elwert of Judea Pearl (UCLA, co-chair) the department of sociology at the University of Larry Wasserman (CMU) Wisconsin-Madison for his innovative two-day Daniel Kaplan (Macalester) course, Causal Inference with Directed Acyclic Graphs. Elwert received $5,000 and a plaque at the 2013 Joint Statistical Meetings in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The skills listed were, likewise, problem orient- Honorary mentions went to Tyler VanderWeele ed, and included the following: of the Harvard School of Public Health for his class • Ability to take a given causal problem and notes on Methods for Mediation and Interaction and articulate in some mathematical language to Richard Schienes and (the late) Steven Klepper (e.g., counterfactuals, equations, or graphs) of Carnegie Mellon University for their course, both the target causal quantity to be esti- Empirical Research Methods for the Social Sciences. mated and the assumptions one is prepared Judea Pearl, who donated the prize and has to make (and defend) to facilitate a solution served as co-chair of the prize selection committee, said the prize is aiming to close a growing • Ability to determine, in simple cases, how gap between research and education in this field. the target causal quantity can be estimated “While researchers are swept in an unprecedented using the observed data excitement over new causal inference tools that are • Ability to take a simple scenario (or a unveiled before us almost daily, the excitement is model), determine whether it has statisti- hardly seen among statistics educators, and is totally cally testable implications, then apply data absent from statistics textbooks.” to test the assumed scenario In a recent interview (http://magazine.amstat.org/ This year, the committee received 11 nominations. Read about blog/2012/11/01/pearl), Pearl said to ASA Executive your colleagues Director Ron Wasserstein, “I hope this prize will The selection was difficult, considering that a fine bal- stimulate the generation of effective course mate- ance had to be struck between three competing objec- and friends in rial. … And would convince every statistics instruc- tives: mathematical rigor, breadth of topics, and acces- the news. Go tor that causation is easy (It is!) and that he/she too sibility to a large audience of students and instructors. to www.amstat. can teach it for fun and profit. The fun comes from The course material submitted by the winner, org and click on Elwert, was deemed successful in meeting all three showing students how simple mathematical tools can “Statisticians in answer questions that Pearson-Fisher-Neyman could objectives. The course is aimed at graduate students not begin to address (e.g., control of confounding, and applied quantitative researchers in the behav- the News.” model diagnosis, Simpson’s paradox, mediation analy- ioral and biomedical sciences. It covers a review of sis), and the profit comes because most customers of causal and counterfactual concepts; principles of statistics ask causal, not associational, questions.” directed acyclic graphs; nonparametric identification The following prize criteria set by the selection by conditioning; conceptual differences between committee were pragmatic: confounding, over-control, and selection bias; examples; and exercises. • The extent to which the material submitted Slides covering about eight lecture hours of this equips students with skills needed for effec- short course and accompanying publications are tive causal reasoning available at www.ssc.wisc.edu/~felwert/causality. • The extent to which the submitted material The committee is happy to announce that a assists statistics instructors gain an under- gift from Microsoft Research will enable the prize standing of the basics of causal inference to double next year. A $10,000 award will be and prepares them to teach these basics in split between an advanced graduate-level course undergraduate and lower-division graduate and elementary material geared toward undergradu- classes in statistics ate classes. n

august 2013 amstat news 35 peoplecalendar news of events

The Washington Statistical Society (WSS) and RTI Mathematics Olympiad International are pleased to announce that Frauke Winner Honored Kreuter, associate professor of the University of Maryland, has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the 2013 Gertrude M. Cox Award. Since earning her PhD from the University of Konstanz in 2001, Kreuter has made many noteworthy contributions in survey methodology—specifically survey nonresponse, measurement error, and statistical modeling—all contributing to new insights in the field. She received the award at the WSS Annual Dinner Meeting June 25 and gave the keynote address, “Big Data in Survey Research: Analyzing Process Information From left: Steve Pierson, ASA director of science policy; Ron Wasserstein, ASA executive (Paradata).” director; Nat Schenker, ASA president-elect; and Lynn Palmer, ASA director of programs, Established in 2003 through flank Kaiwen (Kevin) Li and his father, Jingyin (Eric) Li. Kevin was one of 12 winners of a joint agreement between WSS the USA Mathematics Olympiad Award in June. The ceremony took place at the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Reception Room. and RTI, the Gertrude M. Cox Award recognizes statisticians in early to mid-career who have made significant contributions ASA members Bin Yu of the fellows and 600 foreign honor- to statistical practice. University of California at ary members bring a wide range The award is in memory of Gertrude M. Cox (1900–1978), Berkeley and Lawrence D. of expertise to the academy’s multidisciplinary analyses, who in the 1950s, when head of Brown of the University of projects, and studies. n the department of experimen- Pennsylvania, Wharton School, tal statistics at North Carolina recently were elected to the State College, played a key role Tom Fullerton has been American Academy of Arts and in establishing mathematical named the Trade in the Sciences in the Mathematics, statistics and biostatistics depart- Americas Endowed Chair of the Applied Mathematics, and ments at The University of North department of economics and Statistics section. The acad- Carolina at Chapel Hill and a sta- finance at The University of emy is an independent policy tistical division at the then newly Texas at El Paso. research center that conducts founded not-for-profit RTI. At UTEP, Fullerton coor- multidisciplinary studies of The award consists of a dinates the master’s economics complex and emerging needs $1,000 honorarium, travel program and directs the Border and problems, including geo- expenses to attend the WSS Region Modeling Project global politics, population dinner, and a WSS plaque. Past (BRMP). The BRMP research and the environment, and the recipients have been, in chrono- unit houses the 235-equa- welfare of children. The inter- logical order, Sharon Lohr, Alan tion Borderplex Econometric national learned society elects Zaslavsky, Tom Belin, Vance Forecasting Model. to its membership men and Berger, Francesca Domenici, Fullerton formerly held the women of exceptional achieve- Thomas Lumley, Jean Opsomer, JPMorgan Chase and Wells ment drawn from science, Michael Elliott, Nilanjan Fargo endowed professorships scholarship, business, public Chatterjee, and Amy Herring. n affairs, and the arts. Its 4,600 at UTEP. n

36 amstat news august 2013 people news Flying High at the Howard County STEM Festival

Kids drop helicopters from the third floor of Howard Helicopters drop to the floor below. Community College.

A boy records his flight time. Data from the experiment

oward County held its first Science, The kids flew helicopters of different propeller Technology, Engineering, and Math lengths and recorded which stayed aloft the longest. (STEM) Festival June 9 at Howard The budding statisticians were much more excited HCounty Community College, half-way between to launch the whirly papers down the three flights Washington, DC, and Baltimore. What motivated of the atrium, and they attracted more attention four members of the Washington Statistical Society down on the main floor. While Tan and Tillinghast (WSS) to participate? John Scott of the U.S. Food took flight times on their cell phone stop watch- and Drug Administration, John Tillinghast of the es and collected the copters, Scott downloaded R U.S. Census Bureau, Mark Otto of the U.S. Fish onto a college computer in the lobby, made histo- and Wildlife Service, and Sylvia Tan of Research grams, and did a two-sample t-test. Kids who came Triangle Institute have helped with past WSS quan- early even came back to see how the experiment titative literacy projects. They all enjoy sharing their turned out. interests in science and math, especially when Otto missed most of the fun, giving two career engaging young people. talks on seasonally adjusted economic numbers at Even though they were relegated to the third floor, the Census Bureau and how to survey ducks and they used their location to their advantage. Rebecca bald eagles at the Fish and Wildlife Service. He Nichols, ASA director of education, suggested a sim- pointed out that statisticians ranked 20th out of ple helicopter experiment—a hands-on demonstra- 200 in career satisfaction for 2013 (www.careercast. tion that showed what statisticians do is more effective com/jobs-rated/best-worst-jobs-2013), but they need- than complicated, but dizzying, displays. ed statisticians to do the survey in the first place. n

august 2013 amstat news 37 section • chapter • committee news

2013 Natrella Scholarship Awards sectionnews The section recently awarded two Mary G. and Joseph Natrella Scholarships during the 2013 Biometrics Quality and Productivity Research Conference, which was held June 4–7 in Niskayuna, New York. It is time to start thinking about invited sessions for The recipients for 2013 are Salah Haridy, a PhD next year’s Joint Statistical Meetings, which will be candidate in the division of systems and engineering held August 2–7 in Boston, Massachusetts. Anyone management at Nanyang Technological University interested in organizing an invited session or who in Singapore, and Matthew Plumlee, a PhD can- has ideas for one should contact the section’s 2014 didate in the department of industrial and systems program chair, Jonathan Schildcrout, at jonathan. engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. [email protected]. Haridy was recommended for the award by Zhang A typical invited session consists of three 30-min- Wu and Philippe Castagliola (LUNAM Université / ute talks, followed by a 10-minute invited discus- Université de Nantes). His presentation at the con- sion and 10 minutes of floor discussion. However, ference was titled “An Application of Curtailment in other formats are possible. The 2013 program is a Control Charts.” Plumlee was recommended for the good source for examples. To view award by Jianjun Shi and V. Roshan Joseph. The title Remember, the most mature ideas will have an of his presentation was “Building Accurate Emulators section news in advantage in competing for the limited number of for Stochastic Simulations.” its entirety, visit slots, so it’s best to have your ideas in final form The winners were chosen for their outstanding http://magazine. by the middle of June. The Biometrics Section will teaching, community service, mentoring, leader- have at least four invited sessions, but will be able to amstat.org. ship, scholarship, and commitment to the pursuit compete for additional slots. of quality improvement through the use of statis- Finally, also submit ideas for short courses to the tical methods. Each recipient gave a research pre- section’s 2013–2014 Continuing Education chair, sentation at the conference and received a $3,500 Donglin Zeng, at [email protected]. n scholarship, plus $500 for travel expenses and com- plimentary registration for the conference and the Quality and Productivity pre-conference short course. The scholarships are funded from the ASA Are you interested in the future of industrial sta- Natrella Scholarship Fund and the Quality and tistics or the interface between statistics and qual- Productivity Research Conference. ity? Do you want to learn more about innovative Visit the section website at http://community. statistical methods that can be used in product and amstat.org/QP/Home for additional section news process improvement and quality? If so, you should and announcements. n attend the 57th Annual Fall Technical Conference this October 17–18 at the Hyatt Regency in San Antonio, Texas. Physical and Engineering Sciences The theme this year is “Statistics and Quality: Robert Wilkinson, FTC SPES Representative; Jeff Spurring Innovation.” This conference is a great Luner, FTC Steering Committee Representative; venue to build your network, learn about innova- Bryan Smucker, SPES Education Chair; and Jim tions in statistical methodologies, and further the Wendelberger, SPES Program Chair-elect dialog that leads to more effective use of statistics to improve quality. Don’t forget to put the Fall Technical Conference, There is a strong program covering diverse topics “Statistics and Quality: Spurring Innovation,” on such as big data, innovation, DOE, reliability, case your calendar for October 17–18 in San Antonio, studies, health care quality, and statistical engineer- Texas. This conference is the premier forum to dis- ing. There will be special tributes to Stu Hunter cuss topics at the interface of statistics and quality. and George Box, and we’ll hear from experts in the The goal is to engage researchers and practitioners field. We’ll also have the opportunity to hear from in a dialogue that leads to more effective use of sta- John Sall from JMP and the current ASA presi- tistics to improve quality. dent, Marie Davidian. In addition, there are short There is a strong program covering diverse topics courses on text mining, mixture experiments, DOE, such as big data, innovation, DOE, reliability, case and reliability. See the conference website at http:// studies, health care quality, and statistical engineer- cba.ua.edu/ftc2013 for program details and registra- ing. There will be special tributes to Stu Hunter and tion information. George Box. In addition to hearing from experts in the field, we also will have the opportunity to hear from John Sall of JMP and the current ASA

38 amstat news august 2013 august 2013 amstat news 39 section • chapter • committee news

president, Marie Davidian. In addition, there are The first-place award of $1,500 went to Uttara short courses on text mining, mixture experiments, Chakraborty of Chesterfield, Missouri, for “A New DOE, and reliability. See the conference website at Stochastic Optimization Algorithm with Adaptive http://cba.ua.edu/ftc2013 for program details and Penalty and Its Markov Chain Analysis.” She devel- registration information. oped a stochastic heuristic algorithm for computational optimization in hard problems that is appli- SPES-Sponsored Short Course cable to discrete and continuous optimization. SPES is pleased to sponsor “Methods for Designing The second-place award of $500 went to Shreya and Analyzing Mixture Experiments,” a short Mathur from Oxford High School in Oxford, course by John Cornell and Greg Piepel to be Mississippi, for “Identification of Biomarkers for held October 16 in advance of the Fall Technical the Early Detection of Lung Cancer Using a Novel Conference. For more information and to register, Statistical Test.” She proposed a test with high power see the conference website (http://cba.ua.edu/ftc2013) and a low type I error rate and is able to accurately and click on “Short Courses” and “Fall Technical detect biomarkers in a given data set. Conference Registration.” Contact Byran Smucker at A third-place award of $250 went to Andrew Jin [email protected] with any questions. of the Harker School in San Jose, California, for “Breast Cancer Prognosis Through Gene Expression SPES JSM 2013 Roundtable Student Awards Profiling and Tumor Morphology.” He developed SPES would like to congratulate the following a support vector machine prognostic model that students for earning the SPES JSM 2013 round- accurately predicts whether a breast cancer patient table awards: is likely to experience a recurrence after treatment. Honorable mentions were awarded to the following: • Weijie Shen, The Pennsylvania State University • Heeyoon Kim, Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology in Conyers, • Dilinuer Kuerban, Simon Fraser University Georgia, for “Applying Matrix Theory to • Jiangyen Wang, Soochow University Model Global Social Dynamics” • Pratheepa Jeganathan, Texas Tech University • Shashwat Kishore, Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, for • Cheng Liu, Purdue University “Analysis of Novel Clustering Algorithms • Barbara Wendelberger, University of for Gene Expression Patterns” Wisconsin-Madison • Kamran Jamil, Bishop’s School in La This award provides six statistics graduate stu- Jolla, California, for “Autism and Gut dents with participation at a SPES roundtable. n Microblome: Is There a Link?” • Jessica Xu, High Technology High School in Lincoln, New Jersey, for “The Threshold of CO2 Fertilization Effect on the Growth chapternews of Triticum aestivum” • Jordan Cadle, Paoli Junior/Senior High Arizona School in Paoli, Indiana, for “Reprocessing Jeffrey R. Wilson, ASA Chapter Representative Components of Milk from Foliar Application to Augment Protein Synthesis More than 1,500 high-school students from 70 in Triticum aestivum” countries presented science projects at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Chapter President Guillermo Mendez presented Phoenix, Arizona, from May 12–17. The Arizona the awards to the winners. All winners and honor- Chapter of the American Statistical Association able mentions also received one-year subscriptions sponsored the special awards for the best use of sta- to Significance and CHANCE. In addition, prizes tistics and a large team of local statisticians reviewed were provided by JMP SAS, John Wiley and Sons, the projects for statistical content. STATA, Pearson, and Cengage Learning. During the first day, judges narrowed the field In general, chapter representatives were impressed to approximately 75 projects that showed a sophis- with the quality and variety of the students’ research ticated level of statistical analysis. From there, eight and their poise and intellectual maturity dur- were selected for final interviews. Each finalist was ing the interview process. They would put a high interviewed by multiple teams of judges, and three probability on seeing some of the above names in winners and five honorable mentions were selected. the ASA statistics community soon. n

40 amstat news august 2013 section • chapter • committee news

Cleveland about the workshop and symposium, visit www.bio. ri.ccf.org/ASA/cfall.html. n The Cleveland Chapter and department of statistics at the University of Akron will host a workshop and symposium in celebration of the International Year New Jersey of Statistics. The full-day workshop, “Introduction to Statistical The New Jersey Chapter held its 34th annual sym- Computing with R and Bioconductor,” will be pre- posium on June 7 at the University of Medicine and sented by Martin Morgan of the Fred Hutchinson Dentistry of NJ (UMDNJ). The theme was “Big Cancer Research Center October 4 at the University Data, Data Mining, and Data Visualization in the of Akron. R offers a computing platform that is easy to 21st Century: Evolution of Statistical Approaches.” More than 70 statisticians, representing disci- use and lends itself to a variety of statistical methodol- To view ogies in all fields of application. For cutting-edge bio- plines from academia to industry, attended the sym- medical applications, a collection of packages called posium, which included the following talks: chapter news in Bioconductor was introduced more than a decade ago • “From High-Dimensional Data to Big its entirety, visit and is now the toolbox of choice for people working Data” by Han Liu of Princeton University http://magazine. in areas such as genomics, population genetics, pro- • “Are Observational Studies Any Good?” by amstat.org. teomics, next-generation sequencing, and epigenetics. David Madigan of Columbia University This workshop is a unique opportunity to learn the basics of both R and Bioconductor from members of • “Models for Millions” by Bob Stine from the Bioconductor Core Development Group at the the University of Pennsylvania Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The maxi- • “Shaping Cities of the Future Using mum number of participants for this workshop is 35 Mobile Data” by Chris Volinsky of (first come, first served). AT&T Research Labs The following day, a symposium titled “Statistics at the Crossroads: Its Multifaceted Impact on To view photos of the event, visit http:// Society” will be held at the same location. Statistics magazine.amstat.org/blog/2013/08/01/newjersey. n is ubiquitous in today’s world and is leaving its effect on every aspect of human society. The one-day symposium seeks to provide a compact overview of its Orange County Long Beach all-pervasive and multifaceted impact. Recently The Orange County Long Beach Chapter held its elected 2015 ASA President David Morganstein will first high-school AP Statistics competition June 1 deliver the keynote address. The five invited sessions at the University of California, Irvine. The turnout focus on the following: included 146 students presenting 57 posters to the • Bioinformatics (high-dimensional and team of judges. The entries were thought provok- high-throughput data) ing, and seven teams came away with a prize of $25. Concurrent with the competition, the chap- • Survival analysis and epidemiology ter held a tutorial session for those teachers who • Clinical trials and observational studies accompanied their students. The session was led by chapter members representing the special interest • Statistics in industry and finance group in statistics education. Topics included data • Statistics education resources for teachers (Jessica Utts); technology for AP Statistics—JMP, Minitab, TI-Nspire (Lee The list of invited speakers will be updated at Kucera-Capistrano); test development committee www.bio.ri.ccf.org/ASA/cfall.html. news (Paul Rodriguez); and what the chapter does Call for Abstracts to help AP Statistics teachers (local members). The success of the competition was made pos- There will be contributed posters and contributed sible by coordinators Utts and Kucera, logistics oral presentations in all of the above-mentioned expert Rosemary Busta, Chapter President Bob areas, abstracts for which can be submitted to the Newcomb; and coordinator of judging and scoring contact persons listed on the symposium website. A Stacey Hancock. limited number of slots is available, and the abstract Donations for the event were accepted from Texas submission deadline is August 25. Instruments, Allergan, Minitab, JMP, and Barrons. To view photos, visit http://magazine.amstat.org/ Registration blog/2013/08/01/oc-longbeach. n The advance registration (required for the workshop) deadline is September 24. For complete information

august 2013 amstat news 41 professional opportunities

Professional Opportunity listings may not exceed 65 words, plus equal oppor- Iowa tunity information. The deadline for their receipt is the 20th of the month two n The Genesis Health System in months prior to when the ad is to be published (e.g., May 20 for the July issue). Davenport, Iowa, would like to attract Ads will be published in the next available issue following receipt. a biostatistical researcher I for their Listings are shown alphabetically by state, followed by international listings. accountable care organization. This posi- Vacancy listings may include the institutional name and address or be identi- tion would coordinate staff and perform fied by number, as desired. study design, survey design, data man- Professional Opportunities vacancies also will be published on the ASA’s agement and statistical analysis. We are website (www.amstat.org). Vacancy listings will appear on the website for the seeking an individual that has a master’s entire calendar month. Ads may not be placed for publication in the magazine degree in biostatistics or statistics, and only; all ads will be published both electronically and in print. experience with MINITAB, S-Plus, SAS, Rates: $320 for nonprofit organizations (with proof of nonprofit status), and R. Contact Mike Staab at staabm@ $475 for all others. Member discounts are not given. For display and online genesishealth.com. EOE. advertising rates, go to www.amstat.org/ads. Listings will be invoiced following publication. All payments should be made to the American Statistical Association. All material should be sent Maryland to Amstat News, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314- n The FDA’s Center for Biologics 1943; fax (703) 684-2036; email [email protected]. Evaluation and Research is searching for Employers are expected to acknowledge all responses resulting from pub- a director for the office of biostatistics lication of their ads. Personnel advertising is accepted with the understand- and epidemiology (OBE). The director of ing that the advertiser does not discriminate among applicants on the basis of OBE leads a dynamic organization that race, sex, religion, age, color, national origin, handicap, or sexual orientation. provides statistical, epidemiological and Also, look for job ads on the ASA website at www.amstat.org/jobweb. risk science expertise critical to the review of safety and effectiveness of vaccines, allergenics, blood, tissues, and cell and gene therapies. For details and to apply: www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/ California transcripts (graduate and undergradu- OfficeofMedicalProductsandTobacco/CBER/ n California State University, Fresno. ate) by email ([email protected]), fax ucm356466.htm. The Department of Assistant/associate professor-decision (202) 247-9701, or by snail mail: Statistics Health and Human Services is an equal sciences-Craig School of Business. An Collaborative, Inc., 1625 Massachusetts opportunity employer with a smoke- earned doctorate (PhD or DBA) in busi- Ave., NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC free environment. ness administration decision sciences, 20036. www.statcollab.com. EOE. statistics, management sciences or related field from AACSB or ABET accredited Missouri Illinois institution or equivalent is preferred. n University of Missouri Department of For more information and to apply, visit n Elgin Community College is accepting Statistics is seeking at least one tenure- http://apptrkr.com/363222. To ensure full applications for an institutional research track assistant professor in statistics fall consideration, apply by 10/1/13. Open analyst. This full-time position will gather, 2014. A PhD in statistics, biostatistics or Until Filled. EOE. manipulate, analyze, interpret, and pres- related field by August 15, 2014, is required. ent data and research findings for use Apply online at http://hrs.missouri.edu/ in federal accreditation, grants, govern- find-a-job/academic with a cover letter, CV District of Columbia ment/private funding and enrollment. and transcripts required. Email three letters n Small DC biostatistical firm Bachelor’s degree from four-year college of reference to umcstatfacsearch@missouri. (www.statcollab.com) involved in or university; or equivalent combination of edu. Deadline is December 1, 2013. medical research and consulting seeks a education and/or experience. A minimum The University of Missouri is an Equal biostatistician I to perform project coordina- of two years’ experience in institutional Opportunity/Affirmative Action/ADA tion, data analysis, SAS programming, and research in a higher educational setting Employer. report writing. Send cover letter (include required. https://jobs.elgin.edu/applicants/ Central?quickFind=51520 jobs.elgin.edu/ Ref: BIO-ASA-1307), rèsumè, writing sample, program sample, and unofficial applicants/Central?quickFind=51520. EOE.

42 amstat news august 2013 august 2013 amstat news 43 Associate Member, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division (25365) About Us: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home of three Nobel laureates, is an independent, nonprofit research institution dedicated to the development and advancement of biomedical research to eliminate cancer and other potentially fatal diseases. Recognized internationally for its pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation, the Center’s five scientific divisions collaborate to form a unique environment for conducting basic and applied science. The Hutchinson Center, in collaboration with its clinical and research partners, the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s, is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehen- sive cancer center in the Pacific Northwest. Join us and make a difference! Responsibilities: The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division (VIDD) at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is seeking a faculty member at the Associate Member rank to provide leadership for a large program that functions as a statistics and data center for multisite, international clinical trials in infectious disease research. The successful candidate will possess a proven track record of obtaining federal funding, and experience in leading multi-disciplinary research programs. He or she will have established a reputa- tion for excellence in research design, statistical methods development, and implementation of complex, population-level biostatistical analyses. Candidates must hold a doctoral degree in statistics, biostatistics, mathematics, or related fields. VIDD scientists integrate computational, laboratory and clinical research methods to advance the understanding of microbial patho- genesis and infectious disease processes. VIDD has collaborative programs with laboratory, clinical and field sites in Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. The person selected will have the opportunity to expand collaborations within this global network and with scientists at local institutions such as the University of Washington. Salary DOE+ excellent benefits How to Apply: Interested candidates should submit a CV, a concise research plan (1-2 pages), and the names and email addresses of three (3) references to: Dr. Steve Self, [email protected]. Applications should be received by September 30, 2013 to assure consideration. Later applications may be considered if the position has not been filled. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance are equal opportunity employers, committed to workforce diversity.

44 amstat news august 2013 august 2013 amstat news 45 New York statistics, or related field. PhD statistics, n Assistant Professor of Practice in healthcare administration or business Statistics. Syracuse University’s Whitman administration. 3+ years experience data School of Management is seeking an management. Strong knowledge SPSS, assistant professor of practice in statistics. Prefer SAS. Apply online today at The candidate is expected to demonstrate www.nhrmc.org. EOE. effective teaching for statistics, financial econometrics and related courses. For a complete position description and online Utah application instructions for the assistant n Clinical Biostatistician. Provide statisti- professor of practice in statistics, please cal support for phase 1–4 clinical trials. The International visit www.sujobopps.com (Job #070507). Support statistical strategies for all trials, AA/EOE. develop programming code, and perform Year of Statistics validation; provide sample size estimates, randomization schemes, and interim anal- Recognizingoin the Contributions of North Carolina yses; provide and interpret reports, tables, J n and data for submissions; write SAPs and Statistics to Society Worldwide New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC, is seeking a PhD sections of protocols and reports. PhD +1 year experience in pharmaceutical Register* your statistician to promote data-driven decisions for internal clinical quality improve- industry or master’s +3 years’ experience. organization today at ment activities through the validation of Location: SLC, UT. Apply: klangan@ www.statistics2013.org. clinical data and analysis of results. MBA crilifetree.com. EOE. n

*Registering your organization does not obligate you; it simply indicates you support the goals of the International Year of Statistics.

46 amstat news august 2013 Assistant Professor Position Department of Biostatistics • Position #F35500 Description: The Department of Biostatistics at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), School of Medicine is seeking to fill a non-tenure track faculty position at the assistant professor level. We are seeking applicants with graduate training and research interest in biostatistics or other closely related methodologies. Primary responsibilities will be to consult and collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, and grant submission, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Additional responsibilities include teaching theoretical or applied courses in the Department of Biostatistics, advising and mentoring graduate students, and providing departmental or university service. The successful candidate will be expected to supplement these activities with extramural grant support, which can be obtained through independent initiative or through collaborations with researchers in the department and the university. Qualifications: The candidate must have: (i) a Ph.D. in biostatistics, statistics, or a related field; (ii) demonstrated methodological and applied expertise (or clear evidence of potential) in model selection and estimation accounting for model uncertainty (iii) familiarity with the statistical programming environments commonly used in statistical analysis of patient rehabilitation programs (iv) experience and/or interest in teaching theoretical and applied biostatistics courses at all levels; (v) excellent oral and written skills; and (vi) an established ability to work in multidisciplinary research groups. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or make a commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU. History: The VCU Department of Biostatistics has been an integral part of the VCU School of Medicine for over 40 years, and is committed to excellence in developing biostatistical methodology, collaborative research, and graduate education. The department offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in both Biostatistics and Genomic Biostatistics, a master’s degree in Clinical Research and Biostatistics, and a master’s degree in Pub- lic Health. Our faculty, students and staff actively collaborate with clinical investigators throughout the Medical College of Virginia Campus community, which includes the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health. VCU is an urban, research intensive institution with a diverse university community and a commitment to multicultural opportunities. Instructions: Interested candidates should submit a curriculum vita, research statement, teaching philosophy, and three letters of support to: Yvonne Hargrove, Administrative Office Manager (via email: [email protected]; via post: Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Common- wealth University, P.O. Box 980032, Richmond, VA 23298-0032. Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action university providing access to education and employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, political affiliation or disability.

august 2013 amstat news 47 August 2013 • Issue #434

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48 amstat news august 2013