Home » Featured, Member News, Special Interest Group for Medical Devices and Diagnostics

ASA Interest Groups: Interested?

1 November 2016 1,409 views No Comment
Council of Sections Governing Board

    Interest Groups Image

    The American Statistical Association offers many ways for its members to connect and build networks and communities for professional development. In the August issue of Amstat News, the Council of Sections Governing Board shared the many benefits offered by ASA sections. In this follow-up, we will describe interest groups, which are less well-known within the ASA. While interest groups offer many of the same benefits as sections and are formed as the first step in creating a section, their structure also provides unique benefits.

    Like a section, an interest group is a community interested in a particular statistical theory, methodology, or application that is sufficiently broad to represent active professional interests within the scope of the association. Also like sections, there are many benefits to joining interest groups. They will help you stay up to date in the field; provide education and networking opportunities; and allow you to play a role as advocate, mentor, or leader.

    Interest groups are less formal than sections and formed with an application to the Council of Sections (COS) Governing Board signed by a minimum of 25 individuals. Currently, there are six interest groups. After three years, interest groups that meet certain criteria may apply to become sections. But an interest group is not required to become a section; it can instead renew its charter every three years.

    Unique Communities for Collaboration

    One reason why remaining an interest groups may be an advantage is that these informal groups can include both ASA members and non-members. This open structure means interest groups are a great vehicle to build communities around emerging areas of interest and to create unique forums for collaboration with nonstatisticians.

    Active since 2003, the Transportation Statistics Interest Group (TSIG) brings together statisticians, transportation professionals, economists, and analysts who want to champion the use of statistics in transportation research. Members have been active in the Joint Statistical Meetings technical program and gather at the annual Transportation Research Board meeting. In addition to being sponsored by the ASA, the TSIG is connected to the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the UK-based Transport Statistics User Group.

    The Astrostatistics Interest Group was formed in 2014 in response to the growth of activity at the intersection of statistics and astronomy. “At the 2011 conference Statistical Challenges in Astronomy, there were some particularly great interactions between astronomers and statisticians,” says chair Jessi Cisewski. “Since then, the astrostatistics community has found its foothold, making it a good time to start an interest group.”

    By establishing a group within the ASA, the Astrostatistics Interest Group is raising awareness of this application area and promoting new opportunities for collaboration. “There are abundant, diverse, challenging, and fascinating research problems astronomers face—from the smallest scales such as the particle nature of dark matter to the large-scale structure of the universe and everything in between—and we are eager for more ativan no prescription overnight delivery statisticians to join this growing international community and experience the fun of exploring our universe.”

    Reflecting Our Growing Profession

    As the first step in creating a new section, interest groups reflect the diverse and emerging interests of ASA members and their collaborators. This is visible now in the breadth represented by astrostatistics, transportation, and the four other interest groups.

    According to chair Jack Kalbfleisch, the Lifetime Data Analysis (LIDA) Interest Group “was formally launched in 2015 and has grown quite rapidly,” with about 15% of its 240 members from outside the ASA. “Our goal was to provide a clear focus within the ASA and beyond on an important area of theory and methods with a very broad area of applications,” said Kalbfleisch. “We want to create a forum for discussing and exchanging ideas on life history and time-to-event models and methods.”

    In addition to offering a newsletter and sponsoring JSM sessions, LIDA is sponsoring its first conference at the University of Connecticut in May. It will focus on science, precision medicine, and risk analysis with lifetime data.

    The Statistics and Pharmacometrics Interest Group was chartered in 2014 by both the ASA and the International Society of Pharmacometrics to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration. They have created a forum to share educational and networking opportunities, encourage cross-participation at conferences, and develop new best practices.

    Statistics in Business Schools formed as an interest group in 2008 and has created a forum that provides opportunities for those interested in statistics and business education to communicate and collaborate. Their focus is on developing the business statistics curriculum for the 21st century and improving the quality of instruction in business statistics.

    The Uncertainty Quantification in Complex Systems (UQCS) Interest Group was started in 2014 to support interaction among professionals and scientists working at the interface of computation, analysis, statistics, and probability. Conference collaboration has been one area of focus. In addition to sponsoring JSM and Spring Research Conference sessions, the UQCS partnered with its affiliate—the SIAM Activity Group on Uncertainty Quantification—to organize a conference on uncertainty quantification that was held in April 2016 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

    All the interest groups have the opportunity to participate in the technical program at JSM. Each group is allocated a topic-contributed session and may compete for additional sessions or co-sponsor sessions.

    Interested in Interest Groups?

    Interest groups provide informal and open communities to build cross-society collaboration on new and emerging areas within statistics. To join an existing group, visit the sections and interest group page. Click through to the specific interest group you are interested in and follow the instructions for joining.

    If you see a need for a new community within the ASA or want to create a new forum for collaboration with professionals outside the ASA, we encourage you to consider starting an interest group. To learn more, contact Fred Hulting, COSGB chair-elect, or any member of the COS Governing Board.

    We hope you will get connected to others in the ASA through a section or interest group!

    1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
    Loading...

    Comments are closed.