Washington Statistical Society
        Washington Statistical Society on Meetup   Washington Statistical Society on LinkedIn

January 2004

Contents:


The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award

The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award has been established to encourage mentoring of younger staff in the Federal statistical system. It is presented annually, beginning in 2003, to a supervisor who is nominated by co-workers and supervisors, and chosen by the Award Selection Committee.

The award is co-sponsored by the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, the Council for Excellence in Government, the Washington Statistical Society, the Social Statistics and Government Statistics Sections of the American Statistical Association, and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics.

Nominations for 2004 will be accepted beginning in November 2003. The last date for submission of nominations is April 1, 2004, and the Award Committee will make its determination of the award winner by May 1, 2004. The award will consist of a $1000 honorarium and a citation, which will be presented at a ceremony arranged by the co-sponsors in June 2004. The winning mentor will be selected for his or her efforts in supporting the work and developing the careers of younger staff.

For further information on the award, contact Ed Spar, Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) by phone: 703-836-0404; fax: 703-684-3410; or by e-mail at copafs@aol.com. The nomination cover sheet and guidelines or a photocopy of it should be attached to a nomination memorandum or letter. Forms can be obtained by contacting Ed Spar, or by downloading from the COPAFS website at http://www.copafs.org. All nominations should be returned to the Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award Committee, c/o COPAFS, 1429 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 no later than April 1, 2004.

Return to top

Judges For The 2004 Science Fairs

Volunteers are needed to represent the Washington Statistical Society next spring as judges in five regional science fairs in Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the District of Columbia. Since 1986, WSS has provided special awards at these fairs to students whose projects demonstrate excellence in data analysis or the application of statistical methods. Those who have participated in this activity have very much enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the students and to observe the widely diverse projects that are presented. The fairs are held on a Saturday morning in mid-March to mid-April. The only time required is that one Saturday morning, plus one weekday lunchtime meeting to discuss judging strategy.

If you would like to be a science fair judge next spring, please e-mail Lee Abramson at lxa@nrc.gov by January 10, and include your work and home phone numbers, your fax number and your mailing address. If you judged last spring, there is no need to contact Lee unless your e-mail address or phone number has changed. If you have any questions, please call Lee at 301-415-6180.

Return to top

NAS: Workshop on Enterprise Risk Management

The National Academy of Sciences will hold a workshop on enterprise risk management in Washington, D.C. on January 14-15, 2004. This workshop will:

  • Explore the frontiers of the ERM discipline.
  • Share best thinking between the public and private sectors.
  • Provide participants with useful perspectives, insights, and new ideas to improve their understanding of enterprise risks and lead them to manage them differently.
  • Provide participants with an extended network.

Anyone who would like to attend can find more information at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bms/enterprise_risk_management.html, Online registration is available by clicking the link on that page marked "Registration." There is no charge, but we need an accurate headcount of participants.

Return to top

George Washington University
Graduate Certificate in Survey Design and Data Analysis

The George Washington University's SPRING 2004 semester is rapidly approaching!

In only four courses, learn techniques for analyzing public opinion in today's high-tech environment.

Registration ends on January 9, and classes begin on January 12.

STAT 187 ~ Applied Sampling Techniques

This course introduces the major approaches now applied in sampling: how to decide on what type of sample to draw, how to select the sample, and how to analyze the results. Included are simple random, stratified, systematic, cluster, and multistage designs. Ways to control sampling errors are emphasized and efforts to reduce non-sampling errors are discussed.

Dates: January 12 - May 3
Time: Monday, 6:00 pm-8:30 pm
CRN: 23673, Sec. SD; 3.0 credits
Instructor: Hogan
Location: Alexandria Graduate Education Center

STAT 193 ~ Questionnaire Design

This course covers questionnaire development from the perspective of modern cognitive techniques. Included are a range of questionnaire issues from choosing the mode of data collection (mail, telephone, or in-person) to selecting the respondent, to the difference between asking attitude and factual questions - even how to pretest the instrument chosen.

Dates: January 14 - April 28
Time: Wednesdays, 6:00 pm-8:30 pm
CRN: 23674, Sec. SD, 3.0 credits
Instructor: Richardson
Location: Alexandria Graduate Education Center >

More information about this program is available at http://www.gwu.edu/~mastergw/programs/survey/

If you have any questions regarding the program, or registration, please contact
Cynthia Powell, (703) 248-6209, capowell@gwu.edu, or
Dr. Tapan Nayak, Faculty Advisor/Program Academic Coordinator, (202) 994-6888, tapan@gwu.edu.

Return to top

SIGSTAT Topics for Winter 2004

January 21, 2004: PROC MIXED - Part 3: Model Development & Interpretation

Continuing the topic begun in October 2003, we'll fit a parsimonious mean model and create an interaction plot and illustrate how to specify heterogeneity in the residual covariance structure. The estimation method REML will be used to choose the appropriate covariance structure for a complex mean model. Maximum likelihood (ML) is then used to eliminate terms from the complex mean model. The final model is then refit using REML.

February 11, 2004: PROC MIXED - Part 4: Random Coefficient Models

Continuing the topic begun in October 2003, after discussing the concepts behind a random coefficient model, PROC MIXED is used to fit such a model. Empirical best linear unbiased predictors (EBLUP's) are then computed. Some common causes of nonconvergence are discussed. Finally, a model with both repeated and random effects is estimated in PROC MIXED.

March 10, 2004: PROC MIXED - Part 5: Model Assessment

Continuing the topic begun in October 2003, we examine residual plots and a histogram of the residuals. Subjects with residual values in the first or last percentiles are identified. Finally, we examine how the violation of assumptions regarding the random effects influences the inference of the model.

April 14, 2004: PROC MIXED - Part 6: Generalized Linear Models & Generalized Linear Mixed Models

Continuing the topic begun in October 2003, the difference between general linear models and models using generalized estimating equations (GEE's) is covered. The available correlation structures in PROC GENMOD are discussed and GENMOD is used to fit a longitudinal data model. Finally, the concepts behind generalized linear mixed models are discussed and a longitudinal data model is fit using the GLIMMIX macro.

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

All meetings are in Room S3031 (Food Safety and Nutrition Room), 1800 M St, NW from 12:30 to 1:30. Enter the South Tower and take the elevator to the 3rd floor to check in at the guard's desk.

First-time attendees should contact Charlie Hallahan, 202-694-5051, hallahan@ers.usda.gov and leave their name. Directions to the building and many links of statistical interest can be found at the SIGSTAT website, www.cpcug.org/user/sigstat/

Return to top

Note From The WSS NEWS Editor

Items for publication in the March 2004 WSS NEWS should be submitted no later than January 27, 2004. E-mail items to Michael Feil at michael.feil@usda.gov.

Return to top

Click here to see the WSS Board Listing (pdf)
Return to top