A $250 prize will be awarded to the JSM poster that includes a Statistical Significance piece judges deem describes the best contribution of statistics to society. (Note: Participation in this competition is only available to contributed poster authors who submit their poster abstract by February 2, 2015.)

What constitutes a Statistical Significance piece? Statistical Significance is a one-page illustration of the value of statistics to society within the context of the research problem dealt with in the poster submitted for JSM presentation. The objective is to illustrate to a lay person how the statistical solution to the problem presented in the poster would help form decisions that improve our society in specific areas such as health, agriculture, economy, education, manufacturing, medicine, etc.

This specific piece should be clearly written to convey the beneficial role of statistics in a concise and unambiguous manner.  The most effective Statistical Significance pieces are easy to develop, simple in exposition, enlightening, and fun to read!

Participants must include a one-page Statistical Significance piece with their poster presentation at JSM. Both the scientific merit of the poster and the Statistical Significance piece will be judged. However, posters without the separate Statistical Significance page will be ineligible to win the competition, even if they participate in the competition.

A panel of judges will visit the posters during a special topic-contributed session at JSM and determine a winner by the morning of August 12, 2015. The winner will be notified immediately thereafter.

To enter, email your intention to compete (including your abstract number) to Vicky Pszonka on behalf of Sreelatha Meleth and Daniel McCaffrey at vpszonka@ets.org when you submit the poster abstract and no later than midnight February 22, 2015. Feel free to contact Meleth or McCaffrey at smeleth@rti.org or dmccaffrey@ets.org with questions.