The Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee (SPAAC) invites all JSM 2016 poster contributors to compete for a policy applications prize in its fifth Statistical Significance competition. A prize of $250 will be awarded to the presenter with the JSM poster that includes a Statistical Significance piece the judges deem describes the best contribution of statistics to society.

Statistical Significance is a short, 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 society in specific areas such as health, agriculture, economy, education, manufacturing, and medicine. The 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.

Contest 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.

A panel of judges appointed by the SPAAC will visit the posters during a topic-contributed session on August 2 and determine a winner by the morning of August 3. The winner will be notified immediately thereafter.

Participation in this competition is only available to contributed poster authors who submit their poster abstract by the JSM deadline of February 1. To enter, email your intention to compete and your abstract number to Sree Meleth at smeleth@rti.org by midnight February 22. Feel free to contact Meleth with any questions.