There is a need for better understanding of how to interpret statistics. Learning sound interpretation as part of an applied statistics programme needs to be recognised as a professional skill rather than one that can be passively absorbed as part of a more general education.

Applied Statistics is an integral part of any professional training in Statistics, and many of NZSA’s members would see themselves as applied rather than theoretical or academic statisticians. In the universities there is ambivalence – applied statistics is certainly a poor cousin, despite the critical importance of disseminating newly developed theoretical techniques into other disciplines, and having them properly used, if there is to be any tangible economic gain.

The ambivalence has another aspect. Public perception seldom recognises the statistician’s role: What we do is either perceived as something others (for example Prof Hattie) can do, or it introduces a level of sophistication that is not ‘required’. To give an example from the applied field I most often work in, government departments spending $500,000 on a sample survey will begrudge spending even $30,000 on survey design and analysis. Using a skilled and experienced survey designer to assess the statistical merits of proposals from organisations contracting for government surveys now seems to be passé. The waste of resources is lamentable. The failure to analyse data much beyond tabulating summary statistics also means that key policy decisions are often not properly or adequately informed.

At a more academic level, dropping the statistical component from research programmes such as the Public Good Science Fund, when the funding available is only part of what was sought, will remain inevitable if high statistical standards do not form a necessary criterion for funding availability.

The question is, what can we as the New Zealand Statistical Association do? The answer falls back on us as the Association’s members.

We need to raise our profile. We could, like the British and Australians, establish Chartered Statistician (CS) status for suitably qualified members. We could better recognise the past contributions of our own members – after all, I understand no one has been elected a Life Member of the Association since 1983. We could make more effort to get recognition for more statisticians through the Royal Society or the New Year and Queen’s Birthday Honours systems.

I am sure you have more and possibly better ideas. I would like to hear them.

Ideas alone are not enough, however. Lists of nominations or general support for a CS framework are not enough either. Nominations require documentation. A CS system would require a protocol, nomination procedure, and a sub-committee to vet applications. The NZSA Committee can take on some of this responsibility, but not all. Free time is an increasingly rare commodity.

A number of you are already very much involved in NZSA’s affairs; others less so. Without your views and continued involvement nothing much is likely to change. I look forward to hearing from more of you.