1. The Professional Melting Pot
Statisticians, Data Scientists, Economists, Programmers, and Survey Researchers Talk Shop to Improve Public Well-Being
Joint Statistical Meetings
Chicago, IL
August 2, 2016
Nick Beyler • Fei Xing

2. From Journal Club to…
We’ve heard a lot about journal clubs today and their many benefits
Teaching statistics
Building (interdisciplinary) bridges
Discovering new frontiers
What if you’re a professional statistician without access to a journal club?

3. …Your Own Working Group!
The Statistical Methodology Working Group (SMWG) was founded by 4 Mathematica statisticians in 2011
It began with a mission statement and informal Friday afternoon discussions on a range of topics
Mathematica’s mission: improve public well-being with the highest standards of quality, objectivity, and excellence
SMWG’s mission: provide a forum to discuss developments in statistical methodology, support statistical methods research, and further the statistical knowledge base within Mathematica

4. SMWG Becomes DSSMWG

5. Evolution of a Working Group: Past
Met twice a month
Had informal discussions about journal articles
Participants were early career statisticians and early career economists with statistical prowess
Had a designated person set up meetings, solicit ideas for discussions, and write up meeting minutes

6. Evolution of a Working Group: Present
Meet once a month
Smaller teams also work on initiatives in between meetings
Structured presentations
Visualization session (5 minutes)
Lightning talk (10 – 15 minutes)
Main presentation (25 – 30 minutes)
All Mathematica employees are welcome
Must be active members though (attend meetings, occasionally present, engage in discussions, etc.)
Have a designated person set up meetings, solicit ideas for discussions, and write up meeting minutes

7. Evolution of a Working Group: Future
Meet once or twice a month depending on demand
Business development
Project work
Professional activity
Journal club-type discussions
Open to all Mathematica employees
Established leadership team
Area leader
Meeting coordinator
Other appointed positions

8. DSSMWG: Benefits Forum for practice talks Value added to project work
Especially beneficial for junior staff
Value added to project work
Utilizing advanced statistical and analytical methods
Build stronger mentoring relationships
Junior and senior staff as the “mentees”
Recruitment tool
Job candidates like hearing about DSSMWG

9. DSSMWG: Challenges It’s a time commitment
Project work has to take priority
Only works with a motivated coordinator and active member participation
Topics for discussion must stoke interest among people with different education and backgrounds
Accountable to senior management

10. Would a Statistical Working Group Like DSSMWG Work at Your Organization?

11. For More Information Nick Beyler Fei Xing NBeyler@mathematica-mpr.com

12. Dispersion of DSSMWG Members
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13. Bayes is All the Craze
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14. What is NLP and Why Should I Care?
Statistical NLP (Natural Language Processing) uses probabilistic modeling and information theory
Classifying open-ended survey data
Name entry recognition in health records data
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