American Statistical Association

The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuously operating professional society in the US (only the Massachusetts Medical Society, founded in 1781, is older). The ASA services statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users of statistics across many academic areas and applications.

Mission

The organization's mission is to broadly promote good application of statistical science, specifically to:^[1]

• support excellence in statistical practice, research, journals, and meetings
• work for the improvement of statistical education at all levels
• promote the proper application of statistics
• anticipate and meet member needs
• use the discipline of statistics to enhance human welfare
• seek opportunities to advance the statistics profession

Membership

ASA has about 18,000 members, found in government, academia, and the private sector. The membership is involved in a wide variety of activities including:^[2]

• research in medical areas such as AIDS
• environmental risk assessment
• the development of new therapeutic drugs
• the exploration of space
• quality assurance in industry
• the examination of social issues such as the homeless and the poor
• analytic research on current business problems and economic forecasting
• the setting of standards for statistics used at all levels of government
• the promotion and development of statistical education for the public and the profession, and
• the expansion of methods and the use of computers and graphics to advance the science of statistics

Fellowship

New Fellowships of the ASA are granted annually by the ASA Committee on Fellows. Candidates must have been members for the preceding three years but may be nominated by anyone. The maximum number of recipients each year is one-third of one percent of the ASA membership.^[3]

Organizational structure

ASA is organized in Sections, Chapters and Committees. Chapters are arranged geographically, representing 78 areas across the US and Canada. Sections are subject-area and industry-area interest groups covering 22 sub-disciplines. ASA has more than 60 committees coordinating meetings, publications, education, careers, and special-interest topics involving statisticians.

Accredited Professional Statistician

As of April 2010, the ASA offers the Accredited Professional Statistician status (PStat), to members who meet the ASA's credentialing requirements, which include an advanced degree in statistics or related quantitative field, five years of documented experience, and evidence of professional competence.^[4] A list of current members with PStat status is available.^[5]

Publications

The ASA publishes several scientific journals:

• Journal of the American Statistical Association (JASA)
• The American Statistician (TAS)
• Journal of Business & Economic Statistics (JBES)
• Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics (JABES)
• Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics (JCGS)
• Technometrics (TECH)

Online-only journals:

• Journal of Statistics Education (JSE)
• Journal of Statistical Software (JSS)

It co-sponsors:

• The Current Index to Statistics (CIS)

Quarterly magazine:

• Chance

Historical publications include:

• Edward Jarvis, William Brigham and John Wingate Thornton, Memorial Of The American Statistical Association Praying The Adoption Of Measures For The Correction Of Errors In The Census, 1844
• Publications of the American Statistical Association, 1888-1919 (Vols. 1-16)^[6] and Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Association, 1920-1921^[7][8]

See also

• Fellows of the American Statistical Association
• President of the American Statistical Association
• American Mathematical Society
• COPSS Presidents' Award
• Statistics Without Borders (SWB)

References

1. "About ASA". American Statistical Organization. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
2. "ASA members". American Statistical Association. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
3. "Awards and Recognition". American Statistical Association. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
4. "ASA Professional Accreditation" (PDF). American Statistical Association. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
5. "Statisticians with PStat status".
6. "Publications of the American Statistical Association". JSTOR. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
7. "Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Association". JSTOR. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
8. "The American Statistical Association". School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 20 April 2013.

External links

• American Statistical Association
• The ASA: the First 160 years by Robert L. Mason
• MacTutor: American Statistical Association