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I’m posting two sets of slides on David R. Cox’s Foundations of Statistics given at the JSM 2023. First, Nancy Reid, inaugural recipient of the David R. Cox Foundations of Statistics Award, gave a talk: “The Importance of Foundations,” on August 9, and her slides are below. Second are the slides to my contributed talk, “David Cox’s Statistical Philosophy,” given on August 8. For the next two weeks, (up until September 30, 2023), donations to the Award are being matched (until $5,000 is reached). You can become a “friend of David Cox” by donating $50. We’re only a little over half way there as of now. Please see information about the award below our slides.
Nancy Reid’s slides (PDF): The Importance of Foundations David R Cox Foundations of Statistics Lecture, Joint Statistical Meetings, Toronto ON August 2023
reid-postJSM-DRC.pdf from jemille6
“The Importance of Foundations in Statistical Science“
ABSTRACT: David Cox wrote “A healthy interplay between theory and application is crucial for statistics… This is particularly the case when by theory we mean foundations of statistical analysis, rather than the theoretical analysis of specific statistical methods.” These foundations distinguish statistical science from the many fields of research in which statistical thinking is a key intellectual component. In this talk I will emphasize the ongoing importance and relevance of theoretical advances and theoretical thinking through some illustrative examples.
Deborah Mayo slides (PDF):
“Sir David Cox’s Statistical Philosophy and Its Relevance to Today’s Statistical Controversies”
ABSTRACT: This talk will explain Sir David Cox’s views of the nature and importance of statistical foundations and their relevance to today’s controversies about statistical inference, particularly in using statistical significance testing and confidence intervals. Two key themes of Cox’s statistical philosophy are: first, the importance of calibrating methods by considering their behavior in (actual or hypothetical) repeated sampling, and second, ensuring the calibration is relevant to the specific data and inquiry. A question that arises is: How can the frequentist calibration provide a genuinely epistemic assessment of what is learned from data? Building on our jointly written papers, Mayo and Cox (2006) and Cox and Mayo (2010), I will argue that relevant error probabilities may serve to assess how well-corroborated or severely tested statistical claims are.
About the Award
The award was established in 2022 through an endowment created by Deborah G. Mayo (Philosophy, Virginia Tech) to honor the contributions of David R. Cox to the foundations of statistical inference, experimental design,and data analysis. The award is given in odd numbered years and includes a $2,000 honorarium and up to $1,000 that can be used for travel expenses togive an invited lecture at the Joint Statistical Meetings.
The goal of the award is to promote research and teaching that illuminates conceptual, theoretical,philosophical, and historical perspectives on statistical science and to advance understanding ofcomparative approaches to the interpretation and communication of statistical data.
A donation will help the award to be given yearly (it is now biannual). Donations are being matched up to $5,000 until September 30, 2023. Up until September 30, 2023, donations to the Award are being matched (until $5,000 is reached). You can become a “friend of David Cox” by donating $50. We’re only a little over half way there as of now.
To contribute, please go to: David R. Cox Award (qgiv.com)
Selection Criteria
The award will be for a paper, monograph, book, or cumulative research. Anyone who has made noteworthy contributions to statistics in the spirit of Cox’s contributions as outlined above may be nominated.
Nominations
Information about nominations and the form for nominating a person to receive the award can be found on the ASA website here.
Error Statistics Philosophy 