WSS
NEWS

News about activities of the Washington Statistical Society
A Chapter of the American Statistical Association


October 1998

 


Contents:



WSS Home | Newsletter | WSS Info | Seminars | Courses | Employment | Feedback | Join!

The 1998 Morris Hansen Lecture

The Washington Statistical Society is pleased to announce the eighth in the annual series of lectures to honor the memory of Morris Hansen. This lecture series is made possible by a grant from WESTAT, where Morris Hansen was senior statistician for 20 years, and chairman of the Board of Directors at the time of his death.

The eighth Morris Hansen Lecture will be presented by J. N. K. Rao. Dr. Rao has been a professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Carleton University since the early 1970's, and a consultant to Statistics Canada, where he has provided advice on survey design and analysis. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Statistics Society of Canada in 1993 for his outstanding contributions and research in survey methodology. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the International Statistical Institute, and has over 100 published papers in statistical journals, most dealing with various aspects of survey methodology.

The lecture will be on Monday, October 19, 1998, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Please come to the Jefferson Auditorium, USDA South Building, between 12th and 14th Streets on Independence Avenue S.W., Washington DC. Smithsonian METRO stop, Independence Ave exit. Allow enough time to clear security after reaching the South Building. Security procedures require everyone without a USDA ID to register when entering the building. The lecture will be followed by a reception from 5:30 to 6:30 in the patio of the Jamie L. Whitten Building, across Independence Ave.

Learn more about the history of this lecture series along with information about previous lectures when you visit Morris Hansen Lectures.

Return to top


The WSS Holiday Party

The WSS Holiday Party is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 9 at the Capitol City Brewery at 2 Mass. Ave. NE (BLS Building). Specific times, menu and cost will be announced later.

Return to top


Statistical Seminar Series On Confidentiality

This seminar is one in a series on issues concerning confidentiality of and access to statistical data. Members of the Washington statistical community are invited to attend the following lecture which will be held at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Room 2990, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE.

On Thursday, October 15th, 10:30-noon, John Fanning, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services, will give a talk entitled "Privacy and Research: Public Policy Issues." In this seminar he will discuss: (1) protecting personally-identifiable information gathered for research and statistical purposes, and (2) the impact of confidentiality laws on obtaining personally-identifiable data from existing records for research purposes. Issues to be discussed include legal protections, certificates of confidentiality, and court-ordered disclosure of research. Examples will be drawn from the health arena.

Please note that BLS has special security procedures for non-BLS employees. Visitors should enter through the First Street, NE, entrance. Non-BLS employees who want to attend this lecture should contact Karen Jackson (jackson_karen@bls.gov; 202-606-7524) in order to be placed on the visitor's list. Please call by COB of Tuesday, October 13 (please provide name, phone number where you can be reached, and name of your employer).

Return to top


In Case You Haven't Already Registered

"Interagency Coordination and Cooperation" will be held on November 4-5, 1998. This is the next in a series of seminars hosted by COPAFS(Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics). Support provided by Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Agricultural Statistics Service, National Center for Education Statistics, and National Center for Health Statistics.

Subjects, developed by the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology, include: Fostering Intergovernmental Cooperation; Estimating & Defining Household Income; Applying Cognitive Methods in Establishment Surveys; Changing Core Classification Systems; Providing Public Use Microdata; Measuring Performance; Sharing Methodology & Best Practice; Integrating Administrative Records into Federal Statistics; Integrating Surveys; Measuring & Reporting Quality; Training for the Future; and Improving Response Rates in Household & Establishment Surveys.

The Opening Report is titled "Interagency Cooperation" and the Special Luncheon Report is titled "What's Hot, What's Not."

Participants will include federal statisticians, economists, and managers, as well as others in the broader statistical community who share an interest in the quality of federal data.

The location is the Holiday Inn Bethesda, 8120 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD with a cost of $150.00 per person. There is a limit of 250 participants. For a registration form or further information: contact the COPAFS office at 703/836-0404, fax: 703/684-3410 or e-mail: copafs@aol.com.

Return to top


November 15-17, 1999: FCSM Research Conference

The Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology, which is composed of the senior statisticians from several federal statistical agencies and is sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget, is planning a research conference to be held November 15-17, 1999 in the Washington, DC area. The conference will consist primarily of contributed papers, most of which will receive formal discussion at the conference. The conference will feature papers and demonstrations on topics related to a broad range of government statistical research interests. Papers and demonstrations may address methodology, empirical studies, or relevant issues. Final papers will be due prior to the conference. Papers and demonstrations must be original and not previously published or disseminated.

To have a paper or demonstration considered for presentation, an abstract of at least one page will be required by December 1, 1998. Submit both a hard copy and an ASCII text file by Internet or on a 3 «" IBM-PC compatible disk. Limit columns to 7" or less. Include the presenter's name, affiliation, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and E-mail address, if available. To submit abstracts or obtain additional information, contact: Ruth Detlefsen, Bureau of the Census Bureau, Room 1182-3, Washington, D.C. 20233; Phone: 301-457-3390, Fax: 301-457-3396, and E-mail: fcsm@ccmail.census.gov.

Return to top


Seminar and Open Forum

A seminar and open forum titled " Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas for a New Decade " will be hosted by the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) on January 21 & 22, 1999 for users and producers of metropolitan area and nonmetropolitan data in public, private, university, and other settings.

Agenda topics for January 21 include: overview and history of official metropolitan areas and the Metropolitan Area Standards Review Project; review of findings from the 1995 "Conference on New Approaches to Defining Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas"; Discussion of alternative approaches and criteria for defining metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, including, among others, full national territory coverage; county and subcounty level classifications; and methods of measuring metropolitan and nonmetropolitan integration.

January 22 will be an open forum for expressing views to the Office of Management and Budget on the review of the metropolitan area standards and proposed alternatives. If you would like to present your views on this day, please call the COPAFS office (703/836-0404) by January 15, 1999. Oral statements will be limited to 15 minutes. Persons speaking are asked to bring three copies of their written statement. We unfortunately cannot accommodate last minute requests to present oral statements but will accept all written statements.

It be held at the Embassy Suites Alexandria, 1900 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, VA 22314 , 703/684-5900, across from the King Street Metro stop (Yellow and Blue lines). For overnight accommodations, call Embassy Suites 1/800/EMBASSY by December 21 for the discounted room rate of $134.00 plus tax (single occupancy). Mention that you are attending the COPAFS seminar.

The cost is $95.00 for the Seminar. There is no charge to attend the Open Forum on Friday, January 22, 1999. There is a limit of 150 participants for Thursday, January 21. For a registration form, to request a place on the list of speakers for January 22, or for more information, contact the COPAFS office: 703/836-0404 or copafs@aol.com.

Return to top


SIGSTAT Schedule 1998/1999

SIGSTAT is the Special Interest Group in Statistics for CPCUG, the Capital PC User Group, and WORMSC, the Washington Operations Research and Management Science Council.

October 14 : SPSS - An overview presentation by Bill Haffey of SPSS showing enhancements to basic products and some newly introduced products. These products include SPSS 8.0; re-engineered output (pivot table technology); interactive graphics; customization features; SamplePower (power analysis/sample size determination); Complex Samples (analysis of non-SRS sample data); and AnswerTree (CHAID and CART algorithms).

November 11: Proc-StatXact - A demo of this new SAS PROC from Cytel Software Corp., the developers of StatXact and LogXact for exact statistical inference. Proc-StatXact consists of 11 external SAS procedures which augment the existing small-sample capabilities of SAS.

The following 6 procedures provide exact inference for continuous data: PROC GOF - Goodness-of-fit testing; PROC ONESAMPL - One-sample testing; PROC PAIRED - Two related sample testing; PROC TWOSAMPL - Two-sample testing; PROC KRELATED - K related sample testing; and PROC KSAMPL - K-sample testing.

The following 5 procedures provide exact inference for categorical data: PROC BINOMIAL - Binomial inference; PROC STRATIFY - Stratified 2x2 and 2xc contingency tables; PROC RXC - rxc contingency tables; PROC ASSOCIAT - Measures of association; and PROC AGREE - Measures of agreement.

December 9: PASS - PASS 6.0 is a windows-based software tool for power analysis and sample size determination. It analyzes a broad range of experimental situations, including t-tests, F-tests, proportions, survival curves, correlations, bioequivalence tests, analysis of variance tests, log rank tests, multiple regression tests, and more. PASS is a product of NCSS.

All SIGSTAT meetings are held in Waugh A, 1800 M St, NW. Directions can be found on the SIGSTAT website, www.econ.ag.gov/sigstat/. Links to the above products are on the SIGSTAT Schedule page. First time attendees should contact Charlie Hallahan, 202-694-5051 or hallahan@econ.ag.gov and leave their name.

Return to top


Note From The WSS NEWS Editor

Items for publication in December 1998 WSS NEWS should be submitted no later October 27, 1998. E-mail items to Michael Feil at mfeil@helix.nih.gov. FAX items to Michael Feil at (301) 443-4045.

WSS NEWS: 1998 - 1999 Submission Dates
Issue
Article Submission
Due Date

Issue to Printer
November 1998
September 29, 1998
October 15, 1998
December 1998
October 27, 1998
November 16, 1998
January 1999
November 24, 1998
December 15, 1998
February 1999
December 29, 1998
January 15, 1999
March 1999
January 26, 1999
February 15, 1999
April 1999
February 23, 1999
March 15, 1999
May 1999
March 30, 1999
April 15, 1999
June 1999
April 27, 1999
May 17, 1999

Return to top


WSS People

President
Dwight Brock (301)496-9795
Past President
Graham Kalton (301)251-8253
President-Elect
Mary Batcher (202) 327-6740
Secretary
Elizabeth Nichols (301) 457-4865
Treasurer
Jill Montaquila (301) 517-4046

Vice Chair for District 2 of
Council of Chapters

Andrew A. White (202) 334-2511
Council of Chapters Representative
Ron Fecso (703) 306-1780 ext. 6906.
Representatives-at-Large
John Czajka (202) 484-4685
David Marker (301) 251-4398
 
Carolyn Shettle (301) 215-9100 x 166
Sandra West (202) 606-7384

WSS Program Chairs
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Bill Iwig (202) 720-3895
Dwight French (202)586-1126
Economics
Linda Atkinson (202) 219-0934
Art Kennickell (202) 452-2247
Methodology
Brenda Cox (202) 484-4231
Stuart Scott (202) 606-7383
Public Health and Biostatistics
Trena Ezzati-Rice (301) 436-7022 ext. 133
Rene Gonin (301) 517-8084
Public Policy
Carolee Bush (202) 366-6946
Phil Ross (202) 260-5244
Quality Assurance
Amrut Champaneri (202) 690-3130
Glenn White (202) 327-6414
Short Courses
Roberta Sangster (202) 606-7517
Fritz Scheuren (703) 549-1120
Social & Demographic Statistics
Michael Horrigan (202) 606-5905
Edith McArthur (202) 219-1442
Statistical Computing
Bob Jernigan (202) 885-3170
Mike Fleming (703) 235-5213 ext. 170
Data Collection Methods
Brad Edwards (301) 294-2021
Linda Stinson (202) 606-7528

Employment
Fotios Kokkotos (202) 414-4563
WSS NEWS Editors
Michael Feil (301) 443-4234
Fran Chevarley (301) 436-7093 ext. 153
Electronic Mail
Michael L. Cohen (202) 334-3765
Michael Greene (703) 247-1575
S.V. (Vince) Massimini (703) 883-5893
Membership
Renee Miller (202) 426-1117
Antionette Martin 202) 426-1110
Fritz Scheuren (703) 549-1120
Quantitative Literacy
Carolyn Carroll (703) 352-1712
Science Fair
Lee Abramson (301) 415-6180
Video Librarian
Mel Kollander (202) 973-2820
Social Arrangements
Jeri Mulrow (202) 327-6772
Local Arrangement
Wendy Rotz (202) 874-0969
WSS Historian
Michael P. Cohen (202) 219-1917
WSS Committee on ASA Fellows
Phil Kott (703) 235-5211 x 102

Return to top


WSS Home | Newsletter | WSS Info | Seminars | Courses | Employment | Feedback | Join!

First posted September 28, 1998
Last modified September 28, 1998

Webmaster: Dan Jacobs, Maryland Sea Grant