 | This articlerelies excessively onreferences toprimary sources. Please improve this article by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "American Statistical Association" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Abbreviation | ASA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1839 |
| Headquarters | Alexandria, Virginia |
President | Ji-Hyun Lee (2025) |
| Website | www |
TheAmerican Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization forstatisticians and related professionals in theUnited States. It was founded inBoston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuously operating professional society in the U.S. behind theMassachusetts Medical Society (founded in 1781). ASA services statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users ofstatistics across many academic areas and applications. The association publishes a variety of journals and sponsors several international conferences every year.
The organization's mission is to promote good application of statistical science, specifically to:[1]
As of 2022, the ASA membership exceeds 19,000 professionals found in government, academia, and the private sector.[2]
Organizational members and corporate supporters of the ASA includeAstraZeneca,Merck & Co., theNational Security Agency,Pfizer,RTI International,StataCorp andWestat.[3]
In November 2018, ASA Board of Directors approved a code of conduct statement on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI). It was reviewed and updated by ASA BOD in 2019, 2021, and most recently in 2023.[4]
In June 2020, the R. A. Fisher Award and Lectureship was changed toCOPSS Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship. The change follows discussions aboutFisher's views on race and eugenics.[5]
In 2021, ASA established the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Outreach Group, known as the JEDI Outreach Group.[6][7]
NewFellowships of the ASA are granted annually by the ASA Committee on Fellows. Candidates must have been members for the preceding three years but may be nominated by anyone. The maximum number of recipients each year is one-third of one percent of the ASA membership.[8]
ASA is organized in Sections, Chapters and Committees. Chapters are arranged geographically, representing 78 areas across the US andCanada. An example of an early and large chapter is the SoCalASA. Sections are subject-area and industry-area interest groups covering 22 sub-disciplines. ASA has more than 60 committees coordinating meetings, publications, education, careers, and special-interest topics involving statisticians.
ASA is a member society of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences.[9]
As of April 2010[update], the ASA offers the Accredited Professional Statistician status (PStat), to members who meet the ASA's credentialing requirements, which include an advanced degree in statistics or related quantitative field, five years of documented experience, and evidence of professional competence.[10] To apply for continuing accreditation, PStat members are expected to complete 60 hours of professional development activities each year.[11]
The ASA also offers the Graduate Statistician status (GStat) as of April 2014.[12] It serves as a preparatory accreditation suitable for graduate students.
A list of PStat and GStat accredited members is available on the ASA website.[13]
The ASA publishes severalscientific journals:
Online-only journals:
Co-Published journals:
The ASA co-sponsors theCurrent Index to Statistics (CIS)
The monthly magazine for membersAmstat News is available online[14] and features first-person statistician stories called My ASA Story. Based on the monthly column inAmStat News, the ASA produces a website called STATtr@k with new articles every month for early career statisticians and data analysts, recent graduates, or those who are in a statistics program.[15] Quarterly magazineChance and bimonthly magazineSignificance are geared toward a general audience.
Historical publications include:
Meetings provide a platform for scholars and practitioners to exchange research, job opportunities and ideas with each other. ASA holds an annual meeting calledJoint Statistical Meetings (JSM),[19] a conference on statistical methodologies and applications calledSpring Research Conference (SRC),[20] Conference on Statistical Practice (CSP),[21] and sponsors multiple international meetings and special-interest group meetings.
