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. You can recommend ASA science policy activities following the guidance here or contacting the Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee. You can review past ASA science policy activities in this 2020 Amstat News article. You can also get involved firsthand by applying to be the ASA science policy fellow.

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.

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.

 

See our latest efforts to defend the Federal Statistical System at Count on Stats and assess health of the federal statistical agencies

Count on Stats

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:

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.

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 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:

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.”

News and Highlights

The ASA urges the Department of Education to incorporate statistical literacy into its AI literacy priorities and definitions because statistics is foundational to AI.

The ASA warns USDA of risks to continuity and production of ERS and NASS products if the agencies are moved. 

ASA Executive Directors supports former Greek chief statistician, Andreas Georgiou, urging Greek officials to end their legal persecution of him, "exonerate him of the remaining conviction of alleged violation of duty, and issue a public apology."

ASA sponsoring a group to engage the broader federal statistical community in the development of options for strengthening the federal statistical system in the current policy environment.

National Teacher and Principal Survey. This document is a pilot for a proposed project to communicate how National Center for Education Statistics data are used and produced, as well as the background and status of NCES’ data collections.

ASA responds to NSF Request for Information on the Development of a 2025 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan.

ASA responds to OPM call for comments urging three categories of statistical and scientific positions be excluded from Schedule Policy/Career consideration.

The Nation’s Data at Risk Year Two: Ongoing Monitoring of the health of the federal statistical agencies

See ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein’s LinkedIn posts regarding current events and other communications.

Follow the FY26 budget developments here: FY25 Statistical Agency Budget Developments; FY26 NIH, NSF, and AHRQ Budget Developments.

Recent Policy-Related Articles from ASA Publications

Statistics and Public Policy: Shining a Light on Forensic Black-Box Studies 

Statistics and Public Policy: What Protects the Autonomy of the Federal Statistical Agencies? An Assessment of the Procedures in Place to Protect the Independence and Objectivity of Official U.S. Statistics 

CHANCE: Advisory Committee on Climate Change Policy: A Committee of the American Statistical Association

Statistical Significance Series
Archive

Questions?

Steve Pierson
Director of Science Policy
732 North Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 302-1841
[email protected]