July 2000 Newsletter

From the TSHS Chair: Ralph O'Brien

As I think about the upcoming JSM in Indy, I realize that our Section will probably never sponsor a dozen or more sessions or have a throng at our business meeting and mixer. So what? Our workshops and sessions are well attended, the talks are well done, and the discussions are lively. At our mixers we meet old and new colleagues who we network with throughout the coming year. The Section is working. In fact, it may be as active as ever.

Our JSM 2000 program is excellent, thanks to our current program chair, Robert Oster, and our many paper presenters and workshop instructors. Bob summarizes this elsewhere in this newsletter.

Let me promote our TSHS-sponsored continuing education workshops. Janet Elashoff has just released a new version of nQuery Advisor (v. 4), which she will cover on Monday morning. This is Janet's fourth TSHS-sponsored sample-size workshop, which could well be the longest running series in JSM history! I have seen Becky Grasser's handout/slides for her "Conversational Database" workshop to be given Tuesday morning. Very impressive. I will never be a database maven like Becky, but I will be there myself to take advantage of her efficient introduction/overview. Tom Lang and Michelle Secic are returning to teach statisticians how to write better. Their TSHS-sponsored workshops at last year's JSM were so well attended and highly rated that Tom and Michelle are now giving full-day versions as part of the ASA's LearnStat program. Their upcoming JSM workshop will be a half-day version on Tuesday afternoon.

Providing tasty and novel food and drink is usually a powerful way to shape behavior. So, to attract people to participate in the Section's meeting and mixer (Wednesday, 5:30 PM), the ASA's Lee Decker has offered to order something for us that is not your usual fare at these things. She has some "interesting" ideas! As I write this, I don't know exactly what will arrive. (You will have to come to find out.) We will do the formal business stuff quickly, discuss ideas for future activities, present the best paper awards, and then just eat, drink, and chat.

The JSM is the only time during the year when the TSHS Section meets as a group. Participate in the sessions. Vote for the best paper awards. Come to the mixer. After all, your dues are paying for this!
 
TSHS MEMBERS
MEETING AND MIXER 
WEDNESDAY 
5:30 - 7:00 P.M.
August 16, 2000

From the 2000 Program Chair: Robert Oster

The section has a very full program in Indianapolis this year, beginning at 4:00 PM on Sunday, August 13, with Session 38 "The Interface of Teaching, Consulting, Computing, and the World Wide Web in the Health Sciences". This is a regular contributed paper session co-sponsored by the Section on Survey Research Methods. The session chair is Tzu-Cheg Kao and the following papers will be presented: Our program continues on Monday, August 14, with Session 74 "Innovative Methods in Teaching to, Consulting with and Communicating with Health Science Students and Professionals", which will start at 10:30 AM. This is a topic contributed paper session chaired by Lynn Ackerson that will consist of the following papers: On Tuesday, August 15, Session 132 Creative Ways to Impart Statistical Knowledge to Health Science Students will begin at 8:30 AM. This is a regular contributed paper session chaired by Michael Mosier in which the following topics will be presented: On Tuesday, August 15, our invited paper session, Session 167 Are We Teaching Medical, Health Science and Biostatistics Students What They Need to Know? will start at 2:00 PM. This session will be chaired by me and the topics are as follows: Finally, on Wednesday, August 16, three TSHS members will present posters at Session 229, a regular contributed poster session, starting at 12:00 PM: This year, TSHS will present awards for Best Invited Paper, Best Topic Contributed Paper, Best Regular Contributed Paper, and Best Regular Contributed Poster. Please be sure to vote at the sessions you attend. The awards will consist of a plaque and a cash prize and will be announced at the TSHS Open Members Meeting and Mixer on Wednesday, August 16.

TSHS will also be well represented at the continuing education programs in Indianapolis.

On Monday, August 14, the workshop entitled "Determining Sample Size and Power in Study Planning: nQuery Advisor" will be presented by Janet Elashoff from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The JSM activity number is 00-15W and the cost for ASA members is $60.

On Monday, August 14, Michelle Selic and Thomas Lang will present "Writing Effectively: Communicating with Non-Statisticians" from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The JSM activity number is 00-20W and the cost for ASA members is $60.

On Tuesday, August 15, the workshop entitled "Conversational Database: A Traveler's Guide to Database Theory and Common Query Languages" will be presented by Rebecca Grasser from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The JSM activity number is 00-21W and the cost for ASA members is also $60. Ralph O'Brien, our section chair, described this workshop in more detail in the Spring 2000 issue of the TSHS newsletter.

Complete descriptions of all CE workshops can be found at http://www.amstat.org /meetings/jsm/2000/jsm2000prog.

Finally, TSHS is co-sponsoring nine sessions this year. I believe that each of these sessions contains something of interest to TSHS members. These sessions are as follows:

Session 23 - August 13, 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM - "Statistical Consulting in the Trenches"
Session 24 - August 13, 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM - "Distance Learning in Statistics Education"
Session 72 - August 14, 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM - "Statistical Literacy"
Session 106 - August 14, 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM - "Aspects of Statistical Consulting Practice"
Session 139 - August 15, 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM - "The Teaching of Statistics Across Disciplines and Departments"
Session 188 - August 16, 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM - "Using Technology to Develop Statistical Reasoning and Thinking"
Session 211 - August 16, 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM - "Statistical Consulting: Challenge and Change"
Session 245 - August 16, 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM - "The Nitty-Gritty of Statistical Consulting"
Session 250 - August 16, 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM - "Software Packages and Computer Labs for Teaching Statistics"

I believe that all of the TSHS sessions and workshops described above accurately reflect the TSHS mission statement which states that we are "...devoted to excellence in teaching statistical methods and basic epidemiology and in statistical consulting within the health sciences" and I look forward to seeing you at them in Indianapolis! Enjoy the meetings!
 

From the 2001 Program Chair: Lynn Ackerson

Yes, you haven't even made it to the 2000 ASA meetings yet, and we're already planning the sessions for the 2001 meetings. Next year's meeting will be August 5-9 in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme of the meetings will be "Statistical Science in the Information Age ". As always, our section will have one invited session, and as many contributed sessions as you are able to fill. The tentative title for our invited session will be "Teaching Advanced Statistical Topics to non-Statisticians". I know that in my consulting work, it can get pretty challenging trying to explain multilevel models or other more advanced statistical methods to clinicians and other non-statisticians. And it can be equally difficult finding an article or book on the topic that they can read and understand on their own. I look forward to hearing other people's ideas on how best to explain these methods. If you know of someone (including yourself) who is particularly effective in doing this, please let me know as soon as possible (lma@dor.kaiser.org).

Regarding the contributed sessions, I would encourage you to attend the TSHS sessions at this year's ASA meetings and note the kinds of topics our section members are talking about. Think about what experiences you've had that would be helpful to share at the meetings next year either as an oral presentation or as a poster. Those of us who teach in the health sciences are always interested in hearing what did and didn't work for others doing the same thing. These teaching experiences could be with any of a wide variety of audiences, from graduate students to medical students to practicing clinicians to lab technicians. They could involve one-on-one teaching such as in a consulting situation; web-based modules you've used or developed; books or articles you've used or written; or short courses, individual special lectures, or whole semester/quarter classes that you've taught/led. Of course, of all of the ASA sections, our section probably has the least number of people afraid of speaking in front of a group, so fear of making a presentation shouldn't be a problem.

Another type of ASA session falls somewhere in between the invited sessions and the contributed sessions. They are called "Topic Contributed Sessions". Like an invited session, there is a session organizer who invites speakers to participate, focusing on a particular topic. It could be a set of 5 speakers giving talks, or possibly a panel of speakers leading a discussion. If you have a topic on which you'd like to have a focused session like this, please let me know as soon as possible. It's only through your participation in providing ideas, in presenting papers and posters, and in organizing sessions that we can provide sessions that will be of most interest to you. Thanks for all of your help, and if I don't see you in Indianapolis this summer, I hope to see you next year in Atlanta.

2000 Section Officers for TSHS
Chair Ralph O'Brien (216) 445-9451 robrien @ bio.ri.ccf.org
Chair-Elect Ruth Mickey (802) 656-2526 Ruth.Mickey @ uvm.edu
Past Chair Daniel Freeman (409) 772-6355 dan.freeman @ utmb.edu
Program Chair Robert Oster (404) 756-5713 osterr @ msm.edu
Program Chair-Elect Lynn Ackerson (510) 450-2386 lma@dor.kaiser.org
Publications Officer Stephen Looney (502) 852-6376 Stephen.Looney @ louisville.edu
Newsletter Editor Stephen Looney (502) 852-6376 Stephen.Looney @ louisville.edu
Secretary-Treas. Naomi Fineberg (317) 274-4334 nfineber @ iupui.edu
Section Council Rep. Dennis Pearl (614) 292-3887 dkp @ stat.ohio-state.edu
ASA Staff Liaison Mary Fleming (703) 684-1221 mary @ amstat.org

Congratulations!

A BIG pat on the back for these deserving statisticians . . .

TSHS Chair, 2002: Todd Nick, University of Mississippi Medical Center
TSHS Rep to Council of Sections, 2001-2003: Ralph O'Brien, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

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