National Institute of Statistical Sciences

Report on NISS Affiliates Kick-Off Meeting

March 3, 2000

Summary

The Kickoff Meeting of the NISS Affiliates was held on March 3, 2000, at NISS headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Present were David Banks (Bureau of Transportation Statistics), James Berger (Duke University), Mary Ellen Bock (Purdue University), James Cavendish (General Motors), Cynthia Clark (US Census Bureau), Lawrence Cox (US Environmental Protection Agency), C. E. Davis (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), William Eddy (Carnegie Mellon University), John Eltinge (Bureau of Labor Statistics), Valeri Federov (SmithKline Beecham), Mark Kaiser (Iowa State University), Alan Karr (NISS), Douglas Kelly (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Jon Kettenring (Telcordia Technologies), Mark Low (University of Pennsylvania), Joseph McCloskey (National Security Agency), Marilyn McMillen (National Center for Education Statistics), Nagaraj Neerchal (University of Maryland Baltimore County), Michael O'Fallon (Mayo Clinic), Sastry Pantula (North Carolina State University), Daryl Pregibon (AT&T Shannon Laboratory), Brent Pulsipher (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Robert Rodriguez (SAS Institute), Jerome Sacks (NISS), Thomas Santner (Ohio State University), Avi Singh (Research Triangle Institute), Richard Tweedie (University of Minnesota), Mark Vangel (National Institute of Standards and Technology), George Williams (Merck & Company), Stanley Young (GlaxoWellcome) and Dale Zimmerman (University of Iowa).

The meeting consisted of introductions to NISS and the Affiliates Program, presentations of potential topics of activity for the Affiliates Program and discussion of next steps for the Program.

Introductory Presentations

Sacks gave a general introduction to NISS (This and many of the other presentations are available on the NISS Web site: www.niss.org/affiliates/presentations000303.html.) emphasizing a role of the Program in linking researchers at NISS to owners of problems and data.

Kettenring, as Chair of the Board of Trustees of NISS, welcomed participants and highlighted the Affiliates Program as a strong new dimension of NISS' activities.

Bock's introductory remarks focused on the role of University affiliates.

Sacks then identified the goals of the meeting -- to generate a prioritized list of topics to be pursued under the auspices of the Affiliates Program; for each topic, the type of follow-up (for example, workshop, symposium or research project) and implementation strategy.

Presentations of Specific Topics

The following topics were presented by Affiliate representatives:

Network Data

D. Pregibon, AT&T Shannon Laboratory

Modeling Complex Survey Data

C. Clark, Census Bureau

Small Domain Estimation

J. Eltinge, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Complex Computer Models

J. Cavendish, General Motors

Three-Way Analysis

S. Young, GlaxoWellcome

Information Synthesis

B. Pulsipher, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Data Confidentiality

A. Singh, Research Triangle Institute

Data Quality

J. Kettenring, Telcordia Technologies

 

Additional material from A. Forsythe (Amgen) and M. McMillen (National Center for Educational Statistics) is also available on the Web site.

Other topics raised in general discussion included the cost and value of data, E-commerce and bioinformatics.

Discussion of Next Steps

Representing a committee composed of herself, Karr and Williams, Bock presented a summary to guide discussion of next steps for the Affiliates Program. After iteration among participants, that summary became the Application Area x Statistical Theme matrix shown below:

Specific proposals included:

1. From Kettenring, a willingness of Telcordia Technologies to collaborate in the staging of a workshop on data quality.
2. From Williams, a suggested focus on data mining in clinical trials, with emphasis on safety.
3. From McMillen, a workshop on best practices for data confidentiality.

O'Fallon proposed, and it was agreed by consensus, that Sacks and Karr will construct and present to the Affiliates (for discussion and review), proposed plans for activities (foci and paths) to be undertaken by the Affiliates Program.

Other items raised in general discussion:

1. A Web-based discussion group for Affiliates (widely supported, will be implemented)
2. Summer short courses and tutorial workshops (no clear consensus)
3. Graduate student participation in Workshops (very desirable)
4. Focus on development of topics leading to extended programs (generally supported).

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Affiliates will be held in conjunction with the 2000 Joint Statistics Meetings (Indianapolis, August 13-17, 2000).