In March 2011, Gordon Reikard published a widely read Amstat News piece, “Stimulating Economic Growth Through Technological Advance,” exploring the connection between investment in technology and economic growth. Revisiting the topic four and half years later, Reikard discusses the prospects for economic growth through the end of the decade.
Science Policy
Statistics Degrees Continue Strong Growth
The 2014 degree data released in late August by the National Center for Education Statistics reveal continued strong growth of undergraduate and graduate statistics and biostatistics degrees.
FY16 Budget Request Position NIH, NSF, and Federal Statistical Agencies Well for Congressional Deliberations
President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2016 (FY16) contains healthy increases for the NIH, NSF, and many federal statistical agencies, but realizing proposed increases will be a challenge with sequestration levels back in place.
FY15 Budgets for NIH, NSF, Federal Statistical Agencies Finalized
Here is the breakdown of the final FY15 budgets for NIH, NSF, and other primary statistical agencies.
Bachelor’s Degrees in Statistics Surge Another 20%
The recently released 2013 statistics and biostatistics degree data from the National Center for Education Statistics show continued robust growth for bachelor’s degrees.
FY15 Budget Request Provides Mixed News for NIH, NSF, Statistical Agencies
Delayed a month because of the broader budget negotiations, the Obama Administration’s FY15 budget request was released in March. The ASA’s director of science policy explains how it will affect the statistical agencies.
NIH, NSF, Statistical Agencies Receive Final FY14 Budgets
Just over three months into the current fiscal year, Congress and the president finalized the fiscal year 2014 (FY14) budgets, a move facilitated by the December budget deal easing sequestration for both FY14 and FY15.
Open Data: More Questions Than Answers
Jonathan Auerbach discusses the challenges related to the open data movement.
Statistical Science: The Intel Inside© of Science
ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson discusses three compelling reasons to one day have a statistical scientist heading the NSF, reasons that can be easily generalized to other agencies/bodies.
What? Me Worry? What to Do About Privacy, Big Data, and Statistical Research
Just as statistical scientists bring invaluable skills to Big Data from the perspective of data quality and analysis, they are essential from the privacy perspective, as well. In this guest column, Julia Lane and Victoria Stodden—chair and member of the ASA Privacy and Confidentiality Committee, respectively—discuss the complex privacy issues inherent in Big Data and outline the challenges to statistical scientists for addressing these issues.