Abstract
Statisticians today are working mainly in three settings: in academia, in governments, and in the private sector. For historical and other reasons these three groups, on the whole, have inadequate interaction. Yet the intellectual and practical gains promised by a more integrated statistical profession can be significant. One element of the solution could be an increased emphasis on preparing review articles, presentations and conferences which could enlighten statisticians who toil in increasingly specialized and sub-specialized areas about the advances made and problems encountered in other areas. Another corollary would be the recognition of knowledge regarding ‘official statistics’ as part of statistics as a scientific discipline broadly defined. This would involve an open and inclusive attitude on the part of academic statisticians and an increased sensitivity by ‘official statisticians’ to standards and customs of academic statistical publishing. The closer involvement of private sector statisticians in the activities of a more integrated profession is also quite important.
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