ASA’s efforts to better integrate statistics and stat-
ASA Science Policy Actions
isticians into policymaking is also a journey, along
Five “statistical significance” (statsig) pieces were
which the congressional visits were one step. To help
realize the asks of the visits, much work remains.
finalized in time for the AsA congressional visits
Participant Yunxiao He of Indiana summarized
(see
www.amstat.org/outreach/statsig.cfm).
this well when he said, “It was a good start. We
The AsA president sent a letter to Office of science
planted some seeds. We need to provide water and
sunshine diligently for a while in order to see the
and Technology Policy Director John Holdren
blooming flowers.”
regarding federal statistical agencies.
Nichols, other ASA staff members, and I will
The AsA signed onto a letter to senators in support of
work with the participants to follow up with the
congressional offices and promote statistical literacy
peer review in reaction to House action defunding three
through legislative vehicles. We’ll also pursue other
NIH grants.
routes for promoting statistical literacy, such as work
The AsA president and executive director sent a letter to
with local and state governments and private orga-
nizations to include more statistics in curriculum
the university of Central Florida president and provost
and assessment.
regarding the proposed closure of the statistics department.
Instrumental in the promotion of ASA science
The AsA signed onto a letter to Rep. Rush Holt and
policy is the support of ASA leadership. Not only
did Morton call for more involvement of statisti-
Rep. David Obey for their support of a $5 million increase
cians in informing policy in her JSM address, she
for the Department of Education Math and science
and the 2008 and 2010 presidents participated in
Partnership program.
the congressional visits, as did many ASA Board
members. Indeed, Pantula said, “I personally believe
that advocacy is important for our profession, and
members of our association are the folks [who] can
make our voices heard. If we do not act and convey
saying, “Overall, I think this was a very worthwhile
our message, we will always be viewed as number
endeavor. And, we had plenty of fun along the way,
people sitting in a dark room with piles and piles
too!” Furthermore, as Jana Asher of Maryland indi-
of dusty files, rather than as key scientists who
cates in “Statistics Cited,” some of the enjoyment
drive innovation.”
happened through side trips.
Much remains to be done. With JSM not sched-
Reflecting a more personal feeling of her day on
uled to return to Washington, DC, before at least
the Hill that also captures my experiences with Hill
2015, we must find ways to continue our interaction
meetings, Asher said the following:
with Congress by exploring visits with members of
Congress in their state or district offices and taking
It was incredibly inspiring and humbling
advantage of ASA members being in Washington,
to go into meetings with education staffers,
DC, for other meetings. We also must find ways to
talk about the need for a specific focus on
increase participation in future congressional visits
statistical literacy in education reform, and
to better represent the ASA’s membership. Several
have those staffers express avid interest in
participants commented on the value of having stu-
our concerns—to the point of asking us to
dents as part of the teams, but also noted the absence
provide draft wording to be considered for
of applied and consulting statisticians and the need
inclusion in the Elementary and Secondary
to have more institutions and industry represented.
Education Act. We were not just witnessing
Finally, going back to Morton’s call for the ASA
democracy in action; we were the living
to inform policy—especially with the Obama
conduit that allowed the goals of the ASA
Administration so receptive to statistics—we must
to directly inform the policymaking process
further explore avenues for the ASA to be part of
of our government.
policymaking. ASA policy papers are one such vehi-
cle that I’ve mentioned in the past, but such papers
Next Steps
require significant amounts of time. We must find
Addressing this year’s JSM theme, “Statistics:
ways to mobilize our resources for such activities,
From Evidence to Policy,” Morton described the
and I will continue to strive to ultimately make these
path from evidence to policy as a journey and
part of ASA science policy activities. n
emphasized the need for statistics. Of course, the
38 AMsTAT NEWs OCTObER 2009
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100