Science Policy and Advocacy

The ASA’s science policy activities raise the profile of statistics nationally. By advocating on behalf of its members and providing resources to policymakers, the ASA promotes the practice and profession of statistics. Take advantage of the resources listed here and keep up to date on science policy–related developments by checking this page frequently.

Advocating for ASA Members

The ASA advocates widely on behalf of its members, with an emphasis on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) budgets and the interests of the federal statistical agencies.

• Support of Federal Statistical System
• Support of Research Budgets at NSF and NIH

For the breadth of the ASA’s advocacy on behalf of its members, see Letters Signed/Sent and follow ASA Science Policy on Twitter: @ASA_SciPol.

Elevating the Profile of Statisticians in Policymaking

A central responsibility of the ASA’s science policy work is to raise the profile of statisticians in policymaking. The ASA does this through meetings with key policymakers or their staff, media outreach, and documents such as the following one-pagers, whitepapers, and links to more information:

• Big Data and Statistics: one-pager, whitepaper
• Neuroscience/BRAIN Initiative: whitepaper
• Precision Medicine: one-pager
• Climate Change: whitepaper; activities
• Forensic Science
• Election Auditing
• Nominating Statisticians to Federal Advisory Committees and Other Panels and Positions
• Statistical Issues Seen in Non-Statistics Proposals

Resources for Policymakers

The ASA provides resources for policymakers on a range of topics, from fundamental statistical concepts to how statistics can help advance science or inform a policy.

• ASA Board Statements
• Statistical Significance
• Stats for Staffers Presentations
• Whitepapers for Federal Research Funding Policy
  • Statistical Science: Contributions to the Administration’s Research Priority on Climate Change (PDF download)
  • Discovery with Data: Leveraging Statistics with Computer Science to Transform Science and Society (PDF download)
  • Statistical Research and Training Under the BRAIN Initiative (PDF download)
• Guidance on Statistical Evidence in Legislation
• Recommendations to Funding Agencies for Supporting Reproducible Research

Keeping ASA Members Informed

An important ASA science policy activity is to keep ASA members apprised of current policy developments. This is done through various means, including personal interactions, the ASA’s monthly enewsletter, the ASA website, and the following resources:

• Policy Director’s Amstat News Columns
• Policy Director’s Blog
• Updates via Twitter

Federal Budget Information

In addition to advocating for National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) budgets and the interests of the federal statistical agencies, the ASA tracks the developments of the annual appropriations deliberations, starting with the president’s budget request the first Monday of February. The links to blog entries and Amstat News articles follow:

• FYI18
  • Trump Administration's FY18 Budget Blueprint Outlines Non-Defense Budget Cuts, an ASA Community blog entry
  • FY18 Statistical Agency Budget Developments, an ASA Community blog entry
  • FY18 NIH, NSF, AHRQ, & FDA Budget Developments, an ASA Community blog entry
• FY17
  • FY17 Statistical Agency Budget Developments, an ASA Community blog entry
  • FY17 NSF, NIH, and AHRQ Budget Developments, an ASA Community blog entry
  • Senators Introduce Long-Awaited and Bipartisan Bill to Reauthorize NSF: American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, an ASA Community blog entry
  • Further Consideration of FY17 budget and Major Science Legislation Likely Put off until Next Congress, an ASA Community blog entry
  • FY17 Requests for NIH, NSF, Federal Statistical Agencies Largely Positive, Amstat News, April 2016
• FY16
  • FY16 Statistical Agency Budget Developments
  • FY16 NSF and NIH Budget Developments, an ASA Community blog entry
  • FY16 Budget Request Position NIH, NSF, Federal Statistical Agencies Well for Congressional Deliberations, Amstat News, April 2015

Action Center

The ASA Board of Directors approved sending call-to-action emails to ASA members during its August 2009 meeting about urgent statistical and science policy issues. The ASA encourages its members to communicate with their elected officials in Washington on matters important to them and the statistical profession. There are several options for communicating to your member of Congress:

1. Call their offices. You can find contact information on the House of Representatives website (or enter your ZIP code at www.house.gov/representatives/find) and Senate website.
2. Use the contact feature on your senators’ and representative’s websites. See Option 1 for accessing these web pages.
3. Request a meeting in a district/state office or in Washington: Meeting requests are typically handled through the member’s scheduler, whose name and contact information can be obtained by calling the member’s office. See “Keys to a Successful Hill Meeting.”