Donald Marquardt - The Importance of Statisticians

The Importance of Statisticians
Author(s): Donald W. Marquardt
Source: Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 82, No. 397 (Mar., 1987), pp. 1-7
Published by: American Statistical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2289118
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The Imporlanceof Statisticians
DONALD W. MARQUARDT*
1. INTRODUCTION
we can take greatpridein the accomplishanniversary,
mentsofourdiscipline
and ourassociation.
Mankindhasbeendoingappliedstatistics
forthousands
Nevertheless,
thereare some basicproblemswiththe
ofyears.Whenfacedwitha problem-almostanyprobof
andwithstatisticians.
I willexplore
lem-people can be observeddecidingwhat data are discipline statistics
some of thoseproblemsin thisaddress.I have selected
needed and are practicalto collect;thenobtainingthe
thetitle"The Importance
ofStatisticians."
data,analyzing
thedata,developing
a conceptualframeworkthatis consistent
withthedata (a predictive
model,
2. PERCEIVED
LACKOF VISIBILITY
ifyouwill);and thenchoosinga courseofactionbasedAND INFLUENCE
at leastin part-upon thedata. Statistics
has beena recofstatistics
ognizabledisciplineforseveralcenturies.
That is, there One oftheproblemsis thelackofvisibility
a
as
discipline.
During
my
tenure
as
President-Elect
and
hasbeensomegeneralized
theoretical
basisandsomeform
I
President,
have
recommended
widespread
study
of
Paul
of documentation.
In fact,the disciplineof statistics
is
olderthanmanyof theothermajordisciplines
we know Minton's(1983) article,whichdescribesthescopeof the
visibility
problem.Justone statistic
fromthatarticle:Of
today.
the
approximately
2,000
four-year
in theUnited
colleges
is nowwidelyemployedin all areasofsociety
Statistics
States
and
Canada,
only
about
one-tenth
offer
degreeproincluding
industry
and government.
For example,in the
in
grams
statistics,
and
only
half
of
these
include
thename
1986 President'sInvitedAddressgivenby RichardE.
in
"statistics"
the
department
In
own
title.
my
observation,
Heckert,ChiefExecutiveofthedu PontCompany,
at the
is accompanied
byanothersympASA AnnualMeetings,Dr. Heckertmade it clearthat theproblemofvisibility
a
lack
tom,
perceived
of
influence.
Just
one
example:Most
themoderncorporation
is dependent
uponthediscipline
disciplines
today
have
commercial
thatare cirmagazines
ofstatistics
in a widevarietyofways.The statistical
data
culated
free
of
to
in
charge
professionals
the
field
whoare
suppliedby government
agenciesis butone exampleof
to
and
judged
influence
decisions
for
serpurchase
goods
thedependence
ofcorporations,
andthewholeofsociety,
vices
related
to
has
the
field.
Statistics
no
such
magazine
upon statistical
services.Statisticsand statisticians
also
havevitalinternal
rolesin production,
research,
market- to myknowledge.Doesn't thissuggestthattheexternal
is thatstatisticians
havelittleinfluence?
ing,and supportfunctions
ofthemoderncorporation. perception
I
know
that
will
be
to respondthatthese
many
quick
The AmericanStatistical
Associationwas foundedin
not
statisticians
problems
are
to
butare affecting
unique
1839.OnlytheAmericanPhilosophical
Society,theforeand
scientific
technical
many
disciplines,
especiallythe
runner
umbrellaorganization
forall scientific
disciplines,
mathematical
You
forexample,
sciences.
be
may
familiar,
is olderamongAmericanprofessional
associations
(Wallis
with
in
this
the
recent
study
reports
area,
notablythe
1966).Anyonewhohas followedthegrowth
oftheASA
National
of
David
Sciences
the
Academy
Comreport
by
during
thelastseveraldecadesmustbe impressed
withthe
mittee
related
include
Other
(David
1985).
reports
Fey,
breadthof itsactivities,
whichmirror
thegrowth
of staand
and
Neal
Albers,
Fleming
(1981)
(1986).
tisticsas a discipline.As the ASA approachesits 150th
We do have to acknowledgethatwe are caughtup
* DonaldW. Marquardt
is withtheEngineering
E. I. du
Department,
Pontde Nemoursand Company,Wilmington,
DE 19898.Thisarticle
waspresented
as thePresidential
Addressat the1986AnnualMeetings
oftheAmerican
Statistical
Association
in Chicago.
I
? 1987 American StatisticalAssociation
Joumal of the American StatisticalAssociation
March 1987, Vol. 82, No. 397, PresidentialAddress
2
Journalofthe American StatistioalAssociation,March 1987
all of the sciences,but
thatare affecting
in difficulties
individual
are
Fromthisperspective,
statistical
methods
as an excuseforstat- viewedas toolsor component
we cannotacceptthosedifficulties
elementsin an overallsysisticians.In fact,we have specialproblemsof our own temsapproach.Some statisticians
and statistical
service
making.
organizations
todayreallydo operateinthismodeandare
theroleof seen thisway by theirclients.I willcome back to this
thatwe needto reexamine
I am convinced
I thinkwe willfindthatwe statisticiansperspective
thestatistician.
and expandupon it, but firstlet's examine
how howwe see ourselves.
havesold ourselvesshort.Let's beginbyexamining
otherssee us.
4. HOW WE SEE OURSELVES
3. HOW OTHERSSEE US
4.1 The NarrowView
3.1 The NarrowView
First,thereis thenarrowview.These people see stais whatmaybe calledthecock- tisticsas a branchof theoretical
or appliedmathematics.
insight
One penetrating
member Statisticians
thatanother
Uponlearning
tailpartyperspective:
withthisviewoftenoperateas if
is
thecomment
groupis a statistician,
of a conversation
* onlyabstract
problemsare permitted
withinthedisHow veryessential.One is, afterall, a
"A statistician?
cipline
all ofone's life,isn'tone?"
statistic
* onlyteachingand researchare honorablecareers.
is widelyheld.We are
Thisnarrowviewofstatisticians
must Thisis a vitalpartofstatistics,
of data. Everysportsannouncer
butitis certainly
notthe
seen as compilers
forsupport.Social and governmentalwhole.We mustnurture
have a statistician
and supporta minority
of statofdataonallmanner isticiansengagedin theseactivities.
Indeed,we mustbe
agenciesareseenas simplecompilers
of subjects.People mayviewthisas a highlyimportantevercertainthatmanyof our brightest
and bestare foor challengingcusingtheirefforts
as a difficult
butnotnecessarily
on teachingand research.It is crucial
function,
roleinsociety.Weknowthisviewisverynarrow.Weknow to thelong-term
healthandsurvival
ofourdiscipline.
But
viewtherearedeepandcom- thisnarrowviewcannotbe theviewof the majority
thisnarrow
thatevenwithin
of
If thateverhappened,thenstatistics
plexissueson howto designandcollectthesamples,how statisticians.
would
of data,howto makere- lose all hope of visibility
and influence,
and soon thefito processthelargequantities
Weknowthatthestatisticalnancialsupportfromeducational
andso forth.
liablepredictions,
institutions
andfunding
policychoicesbygovern- agencieswoulddryup as well.Thus,theverylivelihood
resulting
choicescan influence
butthepublicat large of teachersand researchers
mentand businessorganizations,
is ultimately
tiedto thevisichoices. bilityand influence
ofstatistical
of appliedstatisticians.
seemstobe unawareofthisinfluence
Some statisticianscanoperatewithin
thenarrow
view,butall statisti3.2 The Middle View
ciansshouldphilosophically
a widerview.History
support
seems
to
that
the
most
show
influential
statisticians
Takingthenextstep,thereare manywhosee us from
in
tend
to
roots
and
have
both
strong
theory
application.
as
whatI willcall themiddleview.Theysee statisticians
Theyknow
fordefined
problems.
orconsultants
specialists
4.2 The Consensus View
that
Let's turnourattention
to theconsensusview,heldby
* we can providedesignsforsurveys
and experiments
moststatisticians
see statistics
as
today.
They
models
* we do data analysesand developpredictive
* we can make quantitative,
from * a uniquediscipline
reliableinferences
andprobability
usingmathematics
data.
methodas a phitheoryas a tool and thescientific
losophy
todaywouldbe verycontentifonly
Manystatisticians
* providing
a varietyof satisfying
careersin abstract
oftheirclientswouldoperatefromthismidthemajority
or practicalapplications
in
theory
industry,
governitwouldbe! AndyetI havechardleview.Howwonderful
the
or
educational
institutions
service
ment,
sector,
acterizedit as the "middleview." You can inferthatI
* provingusefulin anyfieldof application.
whichotherscanorshould
mustenvision
a widerviewfrom
see us.
5. MARKETSEGMENTSAND COMPETITORS
3.3 The WiderView
Fromthisconsensusview,statisticians
(and statistical
can see theworldaroundthemin
guides serviceorganizations)
are systems
The widerviewis thatstatisticians
thecollectionand inter- termsof variousmarketsegments.One wayof dividing
fortough,fuzzyissueswherever
inwhichstatistical
services
ofdatashouldbe involved.The widerviewex- theworldintomarket
segments
pretation
fieldssuchas
are neededis on thebasisofsubjectmatter
to providethefollowing:
pectsstatisticians
inproblemdi* fullserviceguidanceandparticipation
agnosisandsolution
in anyarea ofapplication
forproblems
* services
* servicesat anylevelofdetailor abstraction.
*
*
*
*
physicaland engineering
sciences
lifeand healthsciences
businessand economics
socialsciences.
Marquardt:The Importanceof Statisticians
3
is thatthesefieldshavecreateda largebachelor'ssegments ferent
theworldintomarket
wayofdividing
Another
eachsub- levelbase ofpeople.Whatdoes thataccomplish?
thatwithin
servicesis to recognize
forstatistical
suchas
jectmatterfieldthereare genericfunctions
andvisibleas a career
* The fieldbecomeslegitimized
ofpeopleavailableto be hiredinto
andas a category
standardjobs (Minton1983).
becomeawareofthefield.
* Employers
* The brightest
and bestfromthebachelor'sprogram
can provideneededservicesin all of those
Statisticians
forgraduatetraining.
becomeavailableas candidates
marketsegments.
* The fieldcan growin statureand importance
in sosee
Withthisas theconsensusviewofhowstatisticians
to
cietybecause therecan be enoughstatisticians
we areina positiontoexaminemorecritically
themselves,
as a discipline.
and influence
achievevisibility
wherewe are. Let's takea look at whoourcompetitors
to become
standtodayitis almostimpossible
As things
are in thejob market.Thereare many.Theyinclude
without
havingmadea detrainedstatistician
a formally
* engineers(industrial,electrical,mechanical,elec- liberaterevisionofcareerpathafterhavingfirstattained
tronic,chemical,etc.)
a bachelor'sdegreeinsomeotherfield.I suspectthatmost
* physicists
fromsomeotherfield,perhapsone
ofus cameto statistics
such as thosewithM.B.A. of the fieldsmentionedin Section5. For manyof us,
* businessprofessionals,
degrees
has nowbecomeourprimary
field.For others,
statistics
* operations
researchers
field.
statistics
maybe a secondary
* mathematicians
This currentmarketing
approachis rootedin the or* socialscientists
Itisinstructive
ofthefieldofstatistics.
culture
ganizational
* computer
specialists.
culture"is. Schein(1985)
what"organizational
toconsider
to stat- definedcultureas a "patternof basic assumptions-intheseas "competitors"
Whydo I characterize
or developedby a givengroupas it
isticiansin the job market?Thinkaboutwhatmanyof vented,discovered,
and
ofexternal
adaptation
as deciding learnstocopewithitsproblems
thesepeopledo onthejob. Theydo suchthings
has workedwellenoughto be
integration-that
whatdata are neededfora specificproblemand howto internal
tonewmemtobe taught
validand,therefore,
thedatain tabularand considered
collectthedata. Theysummarize
form.Theyanalyzethedata.Theydeveloppre- bers as the correctway to perceive,think,and feelin
graphical
tothoseproblems"(p. 9). He notedthat"because
and relation
dictive
modelsfromthedata.Theyderiveconclusions
theyarelikely
haveworkedrepeatedly,
onthedata. suchassumptions
coursesofaction,allbasedlargely
recommend
andtohavedroppedoutofawareWhatare theydoingon thejob? Theyare doingstatistics to be takenforgranted
fora largeproportion
oftheirtime.Manyoftheseprofes- ness" (p. 9).
thenarrowview
thatsurround
perceptions
area primary The cultural
functions
sionalsholdjobsinwhichstatistical
teachingand research(Sec. 4), theconcept
workcomponent.
In fact,don'twe findin anyindustrial, of statistical
mustalwaysbe trainedor expethatpeopleoftenare thatappliedstatisticians
or serviceorganization
government,
andthe
statistics,
fieldsare differentriencedin anotherfieldbeforestudying
assignedto jobs whosesubjectmatter
a graduate-level
isinherently
subject
fromthefieldstheystudiedin school?The bottomlineis conceptthatstatistics
theera whenwidespread
thatfitted
applisociety are inventions
thattheactualcontentof manyjobs throughout
viwas onlya futuristic
methodology
thanwithanyothersingle cationof statistical
has moreto do withstatistics
atthedawnofthecomputer
ageina period
ofthesejobs that sion,occurring
field.Yet theproportion
subjectmatter
have
Allofthesecharacteristics
funding.
is negli- ofheavyresearch
trainedin statistics
are heldbypersonsformally
changed.It is timeto adoptsomenewcultural
gradually
gible.Why?
andinternal
normsthataremoreintunewiththeexternal
now
faces.
statistics
that
problems
APPROACH
6. OUR CURRENTMARKETING
areat theheartofmanyofthemostsevere
Thesethings
It all comesbackto ourviewofourroleas statisticians.problemsin thefieldof statistics
today.In myopinion,
approachin thefieldofstatistics ourcurrent
Ourstandard
marketing
is
marketing
approachinthefieldofstatistics
has beento producea smallnumberofpeopletrainedat doomingus to perpetualstatusas "hangers-on"
to the
fromtheuni- mainstream
thegraduatelevel.Thosewhohavestrayed
ofsociety.
available
as
themselves specialists
havepositioned
versities
to thevariousmarketsaroundthem.But I ask,Whydo
7. A WIDERVIEW
we see ourroleas limitedto providing
helpfromoutside
Instead,I holdoutto youa widerviewofourselves:a
are thepritoolsand functions
If statistical
thesystem?
vision
ofpeopletrainedas statisticians
occupying
jobs at
trained
can't
of
people
marycomponents manyjobs,why
ofsociety,
forcein themainstream
thecenter,a unifying
holdsomeofthosejobs?
in statistics
withpeopletrainedinothermainstream
together
aboutthemarketingworking
We shouldask,Whatis different
use the scientific
method.Consultant
that
technologies
comor
business
as
engineering
such
fields
in
approach
ifthey
also willhave theirgreatestinfluence
The biggestsinglethingthatis dif- statisticians
paredwithstatistics?
* marketing
* production
* researchand development.
4
usingtheprinoperateat thecenterof themainstream,
thatI have espousedelseciplesof "totalinvolvement"
where(Marquardt1979).
So we cometo theessentialquestions:Whatshouldthe
the
be? Whatis the confluence,
role of the statistician
ofthedisoftheuniquecharacteristics
together,
flowing
and themarketopportunities?
ciplineofstatistics
Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 1987
sequenceofstepsinthe
aroundtheoperational
organized
method.
scientific
The firstmajorthemewouldbe
approachto
as a strategic
experimentation
* deliberate
includes
theme
This
first
examinea targetenvironment.
(b)
of
the
experiment,
goals
the
as subtopics(a) defining
of
goals
to
the
in
relation
environment
target
the
defining
identify
to
purpose
the
is
forexample,
the experiment,
8. STATISTICSIS THEGENERIC FIELD
variablesor to optimizea response?(Strategy
important
OF TECHNOLOGY
facthecontrolled
1975),(c) defining
ofExperimentation,
of
goals
to
the
in
relation
response
is thegeneric torsand theobserved
is thatstatistics
The uniquecharacteristic
in
involved
the
issues
and (d) clarifying
thatuse the theexperiment,
amongall thedisciplines
fieldoftechnology,
presbe
cannot
data
the
of
all otherfields cases in whichthestructure
method.Fromthisperspective,
scientific
pecified.
andtheunifysubjectmatter,
arespecialcasesforspecific
method.
ingconceptis thescientific
Othermajorthemesincludeissuesin
partof all experimethodis an inherent
The scientific
* collecting
thedata
for
responsible
is thediscipline
mentalsciences.Statistics
thedata
*
and manipulating
recording
intensity
methodwiththegreatest
thescientific
studying
data
the
and
displaying
*
analyzing
to otherdisciplines.
expertise
in-depth
and forproviding
thedata(thisincludes
models
from
*
creating
predictive
If we are willingto acceptthisrole,we mustalso accept
and model criticism
both the model development
thatgo withit.Nobodyis goingto lay
theresponsibilities
phases)
thisrolein ourlap. We mustgo outand workforit. But
fromthedata
*
makinginferences
whatwe must
understand
wecanonlydo so ifweproperly
customers
*
to
results
presenting
in
expectof ourselves.As Ed Deminghas so aptlysaid
*
adequacyof servicesand
marketplace
monitoring
is
that
theproblem
ofqualityandproductivity,
thecontext
results
do notunso manyworkersat all levelsoforganizations
newconceptsleadingto newexperimen*
formulating
whattheirjobs are.
derstand
in a
tationin relationto a new targetenvironment
ofthisroleinthree
theimplications
I willdiscussbriefly
iterative
sequence.
continuing
areas:
specific
coursecan teachmanyof the eleThis introductory
* theeducationofstatisticians
ina first
course,
statistical
methods
usuallytaught
mentary
* theroleof appliedstatisticians
From
the
theme.
main
must
their
support
but
presence
Association.
* theroleoftheAmericanStatistical
methodsare
the individualstatistical
thisperspective,
elementsin an overallsysviewedas toolsor component
9. EDUCATIONOF STATISTICIANS
approachis theembodiment
temsapproach.The systems
and subject
method.It drawsstructure
wouldbe required of the scientific
education
Somechangesinstatistical
philosophy
To beginwith,the matterfromsuch fieldsas epistemology,
undertherolemodelI havedescribed.
managementscience,
in of science, strategicmarketing,
experience
theireducational
generalpublicthroughout
orconcepts psychologyand dynamicsof people interaction,
gradesK-12 wouldlearna varietyof statistical
and, of course, statistical
andtoolsand wouldemergefromtheirschoolyearsfully ganizationaleffectiveness,
tools,es- methodology.
manysimplestatistical
able to use effectively
studyto designan experilife.Theywouldcarry It is obvioushowa statistical
tools,ineveryday
graphics
pecially
It is almostequally
framework.
and use them mentfitsintothissystems
theseskillsintotheirworkenvironments
obviousthata surveysuchas a populationcensus,or an
there.
studyall fitinto
Thosewhogo on to collegewouldcontinueto develop opinionpoll,or a medicalepidemiology
of
In everycase, theviewpoint
framework.
theseskills.Especiallyat thecollegelevel,and mostes- thissystems
us to defineclearlythe
methoddisciplines
as theirbaccalau- the scientific
peciallyforthosewho selectstatistics
and
thecontrolled
factors,
would goals,thetargetenvironment,
reatemajor,theirviewof theroleof statisticians
theobservedresponse.
frombefore.
be different
methodhelpsus
viewof thescientific
But thesystems
educationare alSomeof thesechangesin statistical
as a Shewhart
simpleapplications
to takeplace,andI ampleasedto report evenin suchseemingly
readybeginning
process.Too often,appliis takinga lead- controlchartforan industrial
Association
Statistical
thattheAmerican
cationsofsuchsimpletoolshavefallenshortoftheirpoershiprole.But moreneedsto be done.
changethatI wouldsuggest tential.For example,everycontrolchartapplication
Thesinglemostimportant
of the targetenvironeducationwouldbe in thefirstintroductoryshouldincludeexplicitdefinition
in statistical
theobservedresponse,and
factors,
101. Its focuswouldbe to ment,thecontrolled
course,Statistics
college-level
in thesamplingplan. The graphicalcontrolchartitselfcan
conceptof the disciplineof statistics
teacha system
How manypracin itsapparentsimplicity.
method.The coursewouldbe be misleading
relationto thescientific
Marquardt: The Importance of Statisticians
5
titioners
understand
thestrengths
and thelimitations
of business,
themarket
to be served,developa maridentify
themathematical
modelthatis embeddedin the chart, ketingplan,andsharpenandshapethestatistical
toolsto
theoperating
characteristics
thatareimpliedbytheaction fitthemarket.
theentrepreneur
statistician
will
Moreover,
lines,or the diagnostic
strengths
and weaknessesof the be sureto knowtheclient'sproducts,
business,andtechembeddedsequenceplotofthedata?I believea systems nicalproblems;the client'speople at all levels;and the
viewpoint
of statistics
in relationto thescientific
method technology
of the client'sproductsand services(Marcan elucidatetheissuesin all applications,
including
such quardt1979,1981).
seemingly
simpleones as controlcharts.
Let me citetwoillustrative
examplesof ourfailureto
Students
willcometothisintroductory
college-level
sta- actas entrepreneurs
center
instatistics.
Does thecomputer
tisticscoursealreadyfamiliar
withsimplestatistical
con- inyourorganization
users
havea "helpdesk"forcomputer
ceptsand tools fromtheirexperiencein gradesK-12. to giveadviceon use ofstatistical
packagesandthelike?
whentheyemergefrom
Students,
thisintroductory
course, Have you stoppedto thinkthatthathelpdeskis one of
willhavetheperspective
that
staintotheimportant
themostusefulpointsofentrance
is
assigned
to
organization?
Who
tistical
markets
of
your
* thediscipline
ofstatistics
dealswiththecentralissues
the
desk?
Is
it
a
clients
eneven
statistician?
If
the
help
ofthemainstream
oflife
countera shoeclerkapproach,we aretellingthemthatis
* thestatistician's
roleis atthecenter,
fully
comparable
what
statistics
is all about.We haveno one to blamebut
in visibility
and influence
to theroleof othermainourselves.
streamtechnologies
And now,the"helpdesk"situation
has explodedinto
* individual
statistical
methods
arerelatedtoeachother
withtheproa
more
complex
problem
bigger
and
much
and to thediscipline,
in termsofwhereand howthe
and the
computing
hardware
liferation
of
decentralized
methodsfitintotheoverallsystems
concept.
reality.We
as a functioning
emergence
ofexpertsystems
Thisunifying
conceptwillthenenablefaculty
to shape havea majorchallenge
aheadtobuildintothesesoftware/
subsequent
courseofferings
and students
to digestcourse hardware
thesystems
approachto thescientific
creations
understandings
so thattheyelucidatetheirroleinthesys- method.For example,letme remind
youthatthepeople
temsframework.
Subsequentcoursescan thenget into writing
manyof thesesoftwaresystemsare not highly
finepointsof detailin a givenarea withoutlosingper- trainedand experienced
statisticians.
Here, again,is the
spectiveon the wholeprocess.Subsequentcoursescan helpdeskproblemin a newguise.Whata fielddaythis
delve more deeplyinto the intricacies
of the scientific couldbe forteamsoftheoretical
and appliedstatisticians
methodin variouscontexts.For example,discussions
of and software
experts!And yetwe haveso fewteamson
theassumptions
requiredforvalidapplication
ofa statis- thefieldthatwe are in dangeroflosingbydefault.
ticalmethodshouldbe seen as one facetof applying
the
ofaccepting
an entrepreneurial
One oftheimplications
scientific
method.
is a responsibility
role at the centerof the mainstream
to considerthe consequencesof our guidanceto clients
10. ROLE OF APPLIEDSTATISTICIANS
and colleagues.I have emphasizedon otheroccasions
ofthequalityof
statisticians
are
(Marquardt1984a)thatthemanagement
in
the
life
of
Changes
manyapplied
to threeinattention
this
a
or
service
In
requires
equal
product
role
model
I
have
described.
under
the
required
as
terrelated
facets:
cannot
statisticians
rolemodel,applied
operatesimply
mustbecomeenshoe clerks(Bross 1974). Statisticians
thatunderlies
1. the qualitymanagement
philosophy
cannotsimply
trepreneurs.
BythisI meanthatstatisticians
ina forideallyexpressed
theoperationoftheenterprise,
sitandwaitfora clientto comein andrequesta multiple
malpolicy
ora timeseriesanalysis.
regression
analysis,
Instead,those
thatare used to achieve,
2. the management
systems
who do
and statistical
serviceorganizations
statisticians
monitor,
improve,and controlthe financialand human
are responsible
for
consulting
oftheenterprise
relations
performance
thestatissystems
and,inparticular,
* identifying
3. thetechnology
servicesneededbyclients
thestatistical
imthatareusedto achieve,monitor,
ticalmethodologies
* convincing
clientsto tackleproblems
or services
and re- prove,and controlthequalityoftheproducts
* developing
proposedsolutions(on statistical
producedbytheenterprise.
latedaspects)
* convincing
theresults
clientsto implement
Withinthe thirdfacet,the technology
facet,mostreal
* long-term
ofperformance
ofsolutions
monitoring
problemscan be solvedadequatelywithanyof several
* totalcostcontrolofservices.
In theirroleas sysvariations
ofstatistical
methodology.
tems
to
issues,statisticians
trained
as
statisticians
resolving
tough,
fuzzy
guides
those
Likewise,
personsoriginally
have discovered
who
take
an
is
within
line
function
the
approach
entrepreneurial
whosecurrent
job
organization
enstatistical
that
some
in
out
approaches
to
bear
acceptable
technically
willbringthesesystems
concepts
carrying
improvements
in thephilosophy
couragecomplementary
theirwork.
systems
facetsoftheclient'senterprise.
In everycase,theappliedstatistician,
especially
thecon- andmanagement
sultantstatistician,
mustdeveloptheself-image
ofan en- Other,equallygood technicalapproachestendto cause
responsesin the otherfacets(Martrepreneur.
The entrepreneur
statistician
willdefinethe counterproductive
6
Journalofthe American StatisticalAssociation,March 1987
quardt1984b).These"reportcard"consequences
should
be carefully
analyzedand anticipated
by statisticians
in
developingtheirrecommendations
and guidance to
clients.
Boardsof Directorshave been theprimary
participants,
withcontributions
fromSections,Committees,
Chapters,
and Council.In theJune1986issueofAMSTATNews,I
co-authored
withPastPresident
JohnNeterandPresidentElectBarbaraBailara description
ofthestrategic
planning
11. THE FOUR SUMMARIZINGTHEMES
pathand wherewe are today.Twenty-one
common-inin the strategic
planning.
I have examinedseveralwaysin whichthisexpanded terestgroupswere identified
groupsare marketsegments
that
perspective
shouldhave an impacton the educationof Thesecommon-interest
statisticians
andtheroleofappliedstatisticians.
Thereare theASA mustserve.Theyencompassa widerangefrom
departments
to federalgovernment
manyotherissuesto be consideredin an overallgame academicsinstatistics
industrial
statisticians,
teachersin gradesKplan.I wantto leave withyoufoursummarizing
themes: statisticians,
12,usersofstatistical
software,
thegeneralpublic,and 15
1. The importance
ofstatisticians
is thattheyshouldbe othergroups.In ourstrategic
planning
we reaffirmed
that
systems
guidesto tough,
fuzzyissueswherever
thecollec- the ASA has responsibilities
to all of thesegroupsand
tionand interpretation
ofdatashouldbe involved.
mustprovideservicessuitedto theneedsof all of these
2. The fundamental
role of statisticians
is to be pur- groups.Thisrequiresa marketing
approachwithproducts
veyorsofthescientific
method.Thisis thecommonintel- and servicesthatare different
forthe different
groups.
lectualcontent
thatunitesall statisticians.
Although
prac- Manyof the high-priority
willbe publications
activities
ticing
statisticians
shouldhaveanunderstanding
ofgeneral and otherservicestargeted
forresearch-oriented
statististatisticalmethodology,
includingdistribution
theory, cianstrainedat thegraduatelevel,butwe shouldprovide
probability,
and inference,
and be skilledin suchwidely also forpriority
needsof otherpractitioners.
The ASA
usedmethodologies
as regression
analysis,varianceanal- has a verylargenumberof activities
alreadyunderway
ysis,experimental
design,and samplingprocedures,
no formostofthecommon-interest
groups.We setup three
one statistical
methodology
is decisiveas commonintel- taskforceson organizational
on programs,
and
flexibility,
lectualcontentforall statisticians.
on interactions
withotherorganizations.
Thesetaskforces
3. The businessofstatistics
is themarketing
ofthesci- have developedpreliminary
proposalsforchangesto reentificmethod.Specificstatistical
methodsare products moveobstaclesand to createnew opportunities
forthe
withinthe businessof statistics.
As withothertechnical ASA to servestatisticians
andtheirpublic.In thecoming
disciplines,we find some statisticians
are generalists months
thethreepresidents
andthetaskforcechairswill
whereasothersbecomespecialists
in certainproducts. preparean integrated
forstrategic
document
planning
pur4. The challengeto appliedstatisticians
is to become poses.I hopetheASA inthecomingyearscanweavethe
entrepreneurial
practitioners
and consultants
in the sci- themesof thisarticleintoall of theseactivities
so that
entific
method.
statisticians
can achieve,andbe perceivedas deserving,
a
oursociety.
throughout
Radicalas thesethemes
maysoundinterms
oftheevery- statureofhighimportance
daybehaviorof manystatisticians,
theyreallyare totally
[Received
September
1986.]
consistent
withthetheoretical
ofourfield.
underpinnings
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