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Fall 2004
Distinguished Lecture Series in Statistics
Sponsored by ACES and the Statistics Department
September 30-October 1, 2004
Nancy Reid
Professor of Statistics, University of Toronto
With generous support from the National Science Foundation, the Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) program at Case Western Reserve University seeks to contribute to the development of a national science and engineering workforce that includes the full participation of women at all levels of faculty and academic leadership.
Dr. Reid, the first woman in the world and first Canadian resident of the prestigious COPSS Award, is an Elected Member of International Statistical Institute (ISI), Fellow of Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS), American Statistical Association (ASA), Fields Institute, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Canada. She is a world-class expert in likelihood methods and asymptotic theory of statistics; she has made fundamental contributions to statistical science. Dr. Reid will give three lectures at Case.
Sept 30
12:00-1:00--Lecture 1, public lecture, refreshment served
03:00-4:00--Lecture 2, graduate lecture
Oct 1
12:00-1:00--Lecture 3, research lecture, lunch served
Reception to follow
If you are not from the Statistics Department and would like to reserve a lunch, please RSVP to Sharon Dingess (368-6941) by September 24th. For more questions, contact Professor Jiayang Sun, jiayang@sun.case.edu.
1st Lecture for the GENERAL PUBLIC AUDIENCE
--Thursday, September 30th—12:00-1:00—ROCK 301
Statistics -- Good for your health!
The media regularly reports on recent research investigating the effects of diet, environment, lifestyle, genes, and more, on any of a number of health-related outcomes. These studies frequently give conflicting conclusions, which suggests that they are best imbibed with a dose of healthy skepticism, yet the public appetite for them seems unabated. A little bit of statistical savvy can go a long way to following the progress of research more knowledgeably. I will illustrate some basic statistical ideas using stories from the news.
2nd Lecture for the GRADUATE STUDENT AUDIENCE
—Thursday, September 30th—3:00-4:00—YOST 300
Likelihood
Statistical theory should help us to solve new problems, and to understand the structure of the solutions. In my view inference based on the likelihood function provides the most satisfactory basis for statistical theory. I will discuss some of the basic concepts in likelihood inference, and llustrate inferential solutions based on asymptotic theory. I hope to convey that statistical theory is both interesting and important, even for students planning to concentrate on applied work. This talk will also serve as background for Friday's research talk.
3RD Lecture for the RESEARCH AUDIENCE—Lunch Served
—Friday, October 1st—12:30-1:30—ROCK 301
Higher Order Asymptotics in Practice
The theory of higher order asymptotics provides quite accurate approximations for a large number of parametric models. However, the details of the theory are somewhat complicated, and perhaps for that reason the methods are not used as often as they might be. I will describe joint work with Alessandra Brazzale and Anthony Davison that illustrates the use and performance of higher order approximations on a number of realistic examples, and outline areas where further research is needed.
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