Practical Significance

The November episode of Practical Significance features a fun twist as podcast producer Kim Gilliam takes her turn at the mic to interview her colleagues and Practical Significance co-hosts, Donna LaLonde and Ron Wasserstein. Armed with insider knowledge and your burning questions about the ASA, Kim leads a lively conversation that’s equal parts informative and entertaining.

The American Statistical Association’s Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award recognizes media professionals for their presentation of the science of statistics and its role in public life. During the 2024 Joint Statistical Meetings in Portland, Oregon, this summer, Harry Stevens of The Washington Post was honored with this award for his Climate Lab story series—which covers environmental change in a clear, personalized, transparent, and reproducible way.

Statistics in the Community, or STATCOM, is a student-run community outreach program launched at Purdue University in 2006. It offers students a unique opportunity to apply their statistical expertise by providing pro bono consulting services to community organizations.

The American Statistical Association recently joined forces with Instats, an organization dedicated to enhancing global research practices by offering expert-led training to researchers through its online platform. The ASA/Instats partnership will bring members a broad set of learning opportunities.

For the first time, the Joint Statistical Meetings—taking place August 3–8—will be held in Portland, Oregon. In anticipation, Practical Significance podcast hosts Donna LaLonde and Ron Wasserstein welcome two special guests: JSM Program Chair Debashis Ghosh and Oregon Chapter President Yuan Jiang, who offer tips for making JSM a professional and personal success.

In January 2024, ASA President Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar announced strengthening and expanding mentoring in the ASA community as one of her initiatives and launched a working group with co-chairs Carolyn Rutter and Ruth Etzioni. This month, they join Practical Significance co-hosts Donna LaLonde and Ron Wasserstein to discuss this endeavor.

The ASA has 70+ regional chapters that organize networking events, provide continuing education, conduct outreach efforts, and promote statistics as a career. They bring local flair to the ASA. By providing support in countless ways, the Council of Chapters Governing Board (COCGB) is the glue that connects chapters with each other and the broader ASA community.

The title for this episode is a question familiar to ChatGPT users and signals the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the world around us. Tian Zheng, Hongtu Zhu, and Mark Glickman join co-hosts Donna LaLonde and Ron Wasserstein to discuss the implications of AI for our profession. Building on a 2023 workshop on statistics and AI in health care, Tian, Hongtu, and colleagues recently hosted an ASA townhall during which they discussed the impact of AI on the statistical community. Mark is chair of the ASA Committee on Data ...

March 14 is Pi Day and the International Day of Mathematics (and Statistics), which has the theme “Play with Math” this year. Practical Significance co-hosts Donna LaLonde and Ron Wasserstein knew there was no better way to play with math and statistics than to talk with members of the ASA Statistics in Sports Section—chair Guanyu Hu and communications officer Denise Bradford.

Fortunately, 2024 is a leap year and February has an extra day because David Matteson, professor and associate chair for the statistics and data science and social statistics department at Cornell University, has a full plate. He recently took on the role of director of the National Institute of Statistical Sciences and is leading the editorial team for Data Science in Science, the newest open-access addition to the ASA’s portfolio of publications.