INTERVIEWS
Thank you to the interviewees for agreeing to provide their candid and detailed comments and information about their fields and the role statistics play in them. When we set out to do the interviews, we wanted to get the real, detailed, dramatic, inside scoop, and all of the interviewees were overwhelmingly supportive of that effort. There were several goals that we had in mind: 1) We wanted to provide the student with a personal insight into the people who participate in the field of statistics; 2) We wanted the interviews to be "deep" enough to be of real value to read, and honest; and, 3) We wanted to provide a broad range of application areas and show students how useful and important statistics are in the world. A quick summary of who the interviewees are and why they are included is listed below (Note: Interviews are from 1995):
Melissa Anderson was interviewed about statistics in education as well as issues in research and ethics. Her academic interest is in the study of education, and she has worked with Acadia Institute.
Alan Dershowitz was interviewed about how statistics, especially probability, is used and not used in Law, particularly in criminal defense cases.
Arnold Zellner is included to provide background in the field of statistics, the Bayesian approach, and the interplay of economics and statistics.
Bud Goode talks about a popular field, sports, particularly the National Football League, and how he uses various statistics to analyze action on the gridiron.
Bradley Efron provides a research perspective on trends in the field of Statistics and on advances in the field based on improving uses of the computer.
Lee Wilkinson describes how his dual interests in statistics and computers led him into the role of entrepreneur and founding Systat, Inc.
Toni Falvo provided an overview of the use of data and market research in programming and advertising decisions as WLS, a Chicago television station.
Nancy Kirkendall describes the information gathering and analysis used by the federal government, in this case, to monitor and plan for U.S. energy consumption.
Mary Guinan is active in the battle against AIDS and her interview describes some of the statistical methods and issues that are important in the CDC.
Phil Crosby is interviewed about the relationship between traditional statistics and the current trend toward Total Quality Management.
We have also included interviews from Andy Duggan and Lester C. Thurow.
