steve pierson director of science policy american statistical association
TRANSCRIPT
Getting our Message to the Public and Policymakers
Steve PiersonDirector of Science Policy
American Statistical Association
Outline
Our challenges/goals
The American Statistical
Association
Public Relations Campaign
Policy Efforts
Statisticians’ challengesStatisticians are:
1. People consulted after data collection to analyze data in support of desired result
2. Mathematicians who deal with probability3. People who collect numbers4. People who do surveys5. None of the above
Statistics: Singular or Plural?Plural: data , numbersSingular: science of learning from data and
quantifying associated uncertainty
Statisticians’ challenges (cont’d)Google “Statistics Definition”: The branch of
mathematics dealing with numerical dataBig Data
% of HS Stats teacher with Stats degree <10%NAS and NSF PanelsData Science, Analytics, Machine Learning,
econometrics, psychometrics, sabermetrics, …
What Statistics has going for it
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
1987 1996 2005 2014
Stati
stics
and
Bio
stati
stics
Deg
rees
Bachelor's
Master's
PhD's
NCES IPEDS
What Statistics has going for it
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1987 1996 2005 2014
Percentage of U.S. Statistics and Biostatistics Degrees Awarded to Women
Bachelor's
Master's
PhD's
NCES IPEDS
What Statistics has going for itPositive press and ratings
For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics, New York Times, August 5, 2009
Statistical Analysis and Data Mining top “The 25 Hottest Skills That Got People Hired in 2014”
Careercast names Statistician one of 2015 top jobs for millennials
…Nature’s 100 most cited research articles
ever: Nine by statisticians
How we’d like you to view StatisticsIndependent scientific disciplineNot a tool bag but a type of critical thinkingStatistics improves science, business, policy
…Statistical literacy helps everyday decisions
whether personal (health, finance) or careerStatistics prepares one for diversity of careers
American Statistical Association
19,000 MembersMembership a concern but not addressed by TiS
35 Staff Members (1.5 Statisticians, Three PhD’s)
Annual Budget: $9.2 millionMain Revenue: dues, journals, meetingsOne major meeting 6000-7000 attendeesNew positions in last 8 years
Director of Science Policy 2008Public Relations Coordinator 2012Director of Development 2014
This is Statistics Campaign$200K/yr contract with DC
communications firmLaunched August 2014Primary Audience: HS and
undergrad studentsMessage: benefits of statistics
knowledge/degree for careerContract covers: webpage
content, media outreach, social media, outreach to teachers/counselors associations, content development (videos, profiles) http://
thisisstatistics.org/
ASA Process and SelectionThree board meeting discussions: 2013
Subcommittee appointedRFP in Fall 2013Proposal review October 2013Interview/selection in November 2013
ManagementContact several times a weekMonthly call to review progress and next
stepsQuarterly meeting of principalsAnnual contract
MetricsTwitter Followers: 2,230; Facebook likes:
3,643Video views: 1,200 to 22,000Media outreach Website visits:
Augus
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Sept
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Oct
ober
Nov
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Decem
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Work to be done:How to leverage ASA resources
Ongoing, expanding19,000 membersNumerous communication channels100+ Statistics/Biostatistics departmentsOther partners (e.g., federal statistical agencies)
Better reach studentsNext steps for campaign?
Media pitchesVideosAdvertising?
Policy WorkIncreased activity spurred in 2012
rejected proposal to change NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences to Division of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Whitepapers/one-pagers on how statisticians can advance OSTP Initiatives
Meetings at NIH, NSF, OSTPASA Board statement on Data Science: Foundation is Database management + Statistics/Machine Learning
+ Parallel/Distributed computing
SummaryASA’s challenge: lack of visibility and
understanding of statisticsOne prong of ASA response: This is StatisticsMulti-faceted approach also includes PR,
PolicyResults?
TBD
