Mini-Symposium: Statistical Consulting

When: January 24, 2008, from 3pm to 5pm

Where: Applied Statistics Playroom*

Sponsored by the New York City chapter of the American Statistical Association and the Columbia University Statistics Department, ISERP, and Applied Statistics Center.

Agenda

• Before 3pm: Casual conversation. This is a good time to meet new people or catch up with others.


• 3pm to 5pm:
• Brief lecture by Andrew Gelman: Some Recent Progress in Simple Statistical Methods.


• Panel discussion on statistical consulting with Naihua Duan (New York State Psychiatric Institute), Mimi Kim (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), Eva Petkova (New York University), Andrew Gelman (Columbia University), Kaiser Fung (Sirius Satellite Radio), and David Rindskopf (CUNY Graduate Center).


• The panel members will speak briefly, discuss questions, and facilitate a general discussion about statistical consulting.


• After 5pm: End of the formal part of the symposium. People can continue a group discussion, leave, or break into smaller groups.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Providing statistical solutions within the range of understandability;
• Handling the trade-offs between doing the analyses yourself and teaching others to perform all or parts of the analyses themselves;
• Managing expectations and building long-term relationships;
• Deciding how much to cater to the norm within disciplines;
• Balancing the goals of co-authorship in conjunction with money-making.

* The Applied Statistics Playroom is 707 International Affairs Building, Columbia University, at 118 St. and Amsterdam Ave., near the 116 St. #1 train. Snacks will be provided.