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Having an Impact in a Multi-Disciplinary Setting

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I am speaking as a private citizen and not as an official FDA ... For Statisticians, Methodologists, Epidemiologists, ... What Does 'Having an Impact' Mean? ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Having an Impact in a Multi-Disciplinary Setting


1
Having an Impact in a Multi-Disciplinary Setting
  • Janice Derr, Ph.D.

I am speaking as a private citizen and not as an
official FDA representative. The statements I am
about to make reflect my personal opinions and
are not necessarily supported or endorsed by FDA.
2
Having an Impact
  • For Statisticians, Methodologists,
    Epidemiologists,
  • What Does Having an Impact Mean?
  • Typical Challenges
  • Practical Approaches

3
Having an Impact Tale 1
  • An investigator came to my office asking for
    sample size requirements
  • I could never get a clear picture of the overall
    situation
  • She put my questions aside, all she wanted was
    the number
  • After I finally coughed up a number for her she
    never got back to me
  • I admit I did not try very hard to follow up with
    her either
  • My impression is that the number was too large

4
Having an Impact Tale 2
  • I was working as a biostatistician for a large
    grant
  • The primary analyses specified in our grant were
    not significant
  • In the exploratory analyses, the intervention
    effects were significant
  • The investigator asked me to help draft a
    manuscript based only on the exploratory results
  • I explained the difference between exploratory
    analyses and confirmatory analyses
  • After a long series of discussions, I finally
    persuaded her and we agreed to report both the
    primary analysis results and the exploratory
    analysis results.

5
What Does Having an Impact Mean?
  • Promoting good statistical practices
  • Promoting statistical thinking
  • Contributing to the goals of the organization
  • Contributing to the development of research
    methodology
  • Other ideas?

6
Tale 1 Lack of Involvement Limits Impact
  • The statistician
  • Encountered resistance to her questions (why?)
  • Provided an answer that probably didnt satisfy
    anybody

7
Tale 2 Involved Statistician Has an Impact
  • The statistician
  • Supported the overall research objectives
  • Explained his concerns and consequences in the
    context of the study conclusions
  • Suggested an alternative approach
  • Maintained a collaborative relationship with the
    team

8
What does it take for a statistician to have an
impact in a multi-disiplinary setting?
  • Statistical Expertise
  • Non-Statistical Skills
  • Vision of Broad Role

Impact
Involvement
9
Challenges to Having an Impact
Her solutions dont look very realistic.. We
dont understand the report or the relevance of
her input. Statisticians dont give us answers
that we can use. Well just make a decision
based on what weve always done in the past.
They didnt appreciate all of my hard work on
their problem. They didnt understand how my work
addresses their questions. Clients from this
field seem to think they can just ignore the
statistical evidence and make arbitrary
decisions.
Statistician
Client
10
Challenges to Having an Impact
  1. Role of the statistician
  2. Communication skills
  3. Strategic issues

11
Challenge 1 Role of the Statistician
  • Narrow
  • Broad
  • Helping clients think through their scientific
    goals, working out details of study design and
    implementation, and figuring out how to display
    and interpret results are major tasks. In fact,
    refining a good idea for a research study into
    concrete specific aims and study design is one of
    the most challenging parts of doing research, and
    something with which an experienced statistician
    can be a great help. Kevin Cain, The
    Statistical Consultant, Fall, 2006

12
Practical Approaches
  • Graduate student education in statistics/methodolo
    gy needs to include full involvement in actual
    projects
  • Practicing statisticians Evaluate the level of
    your involvement in projects

13
Challenge 2 Communication Skills
Asking Good Questions
Talking About Statistics
14
Practical Approach Improve Your Skills
1. So, what is your target population? 3.
Well, you mentioned this forty thousand. Now is
that undergraduate students on their own or is it
graduates and undergraduates? 5. OK, so are
you able to get a random probability sample of
this target population?
2. Uh, you mean the people we want to find out
about? 4. Well, its graduates and
undergraduates... 6.A what?
15
Use Closed Probes for Specific Information
  • How many nursing homes are in the database?
  • Can you conduct interviews in person instead of
    over the phone?
  • Did each surgeon evaluate the records of all 202
    patients for risk of complications?
  • Can you obtain a matching set of records for
    patients who did not use antidepressants?

16
Use Open Probes for General Information
  • Why do you need a seven-year reference period for
    recalling product purchases?
  • How does a surgeon express the risk of
    complications in the abdominal aneurism surgery?
  • How would clinicians view each of the outcomes
    related to incontinence in the nursing home
    patients?
  • What other factors might influence a patients
    insulin dosage over the 14-year reference period?

17
Use Concrete Paraphrase To Confirm Your
Understanding
  • My understanding is that
  • as a diabetic patient ages he tends to use a
    larger dose of insulin.
  • we could develop a plan to conduct an in-person
    interview with fewer subjects but with a greater
    response rate.
  • clinicians view the use of a catheter as a
    separate outcome not related to incontinence.
  • the computer program was developed independently
    of the surgeons who evaluated the patients
    records.

18
Asking Good Questions
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REQUEST FOR
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OPEN QUESTION
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REQUEST FOR
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OPEN QUESTION
19
Talking About Statistics
Video examples of good and poor communication
skills
20
Talking About Statistics
  • Be prepared to communicate statistical
    information in a variety of different ways
  • Be attuned to your client to pick up clues about
    his/her learning preferences (visual, auditory,
    kinesthetic)
  • Adapt your discussion accordingly, on the spot!

21
Challenge 3 Strategic Issues
  • Clients not aware of benefits of collaboration
  • Lack of previous collaborative experiences
  • Client discipline does not have a tradition of
    involving statisticians
  • Institutional barriers
  • Limited resources
  • Position of statistician in the organization

22
Practical Approaches
  • Provide talks, short courses to clients
  • Invite clients and statisticians to discuss
    common methodological concerns
  • Identify clients who can serve as role models to
    their colleagues for collaboration and innovation
  • Discuss with clients how to minimize
    institutional barriers

23
Having an Impact in a Multi-Disciplinary Setting
  • In my opinion, statisticians can help facilitate
    effective collaborative relationships with
    clinical researchers by being proactive in being
    included in research teams from the inceptions of
    projects. In all situations, asking the
    questions needed to gain a clear understanding of
    the research and related clinical issues should
    be considered a prerequisite to providing
    assistance.
  • Collaborative relationships could be further
    enhanced by training statisticians in
    consultative approaches and methods along with
    real-world practice providing consultation in a
    variety of settings. Janet Powell, The
    Statistical Consultant, Fall, 2006
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