Statistical Consulting in a Geographically Dispersed Organization

There has been much discussion in the recent statistical literature concerning the optimal manner for a consulting statistician to operate within a larger organization. Marquardt (1979) described the "total involvement" approach, involving a statistician from conceptualization of a project to the final report; Finney (1982) discussed the questions a statistician should ask for effective consulting; and Bishop, Peterson, and Tragser (1982) argued that a statistician's most substantive contributions are made during the planning stages of a study. McCulloch et al. (1982) described a program for training statistical consultants, and Hunter (1981) discussed the roles a statistician may assume. A statistician consulting in a geographically dispersed organization will encounter difficulties similar to those of a statistician consulting in-house. The typical obstacles encountered through in-house consulting are greatly exaggerated, however, when consulting with clients at distant sites. Similarly, the skills needed to be an effective consultant at a distance are generally the same as those required for inhouse consultation, but some must be enhanced for effective consultation at a distance. In this article we present, from our experience, some of the problems that become exaggerated when consulting at a distance, some of the skills that must also be exaggerated to produce effective consulting in this situation, some features we have found useful in long-distance consultation, and some recommendations for the classroom, which may help prepare students for consulting by telephone. As with in-house consulting, visits to experimental sites are an important aspect for effective statistical consultation (e.g., Hahn 1984). A statistician consulting with distant field sites has a different involvement in a site visit, however, than does a statistician consulting in-house. Hahn stated that the major mode of communication between experimenter and statistician should be face to face. A statistician consulting in-house is available for face-to-face communication as needed by the experimenter, in addition to visiting the experimental site. For a statistician consulting with distant sites, a site visit frequently represents the only opportunity for face-to-face consultation across a span of months or years. Thus a visit to a distant site is a "temporary" resource, and the statistician must expect to have his or her talents exploited to the fullest. Consulting relationships must be established and developed in a relatively short span of time; current projects must be reviewed and future projects anticipated; and the statistician must learn the purposes and constraints under which the field station is operating. An in-house site visit generally does not need to accomplish as much. When consulting with an in-house experimental site, if something more needs to be done, the statistician and experimenter can always meet again later. When consulting with a distant site, however, the statistician will have to accomplish anything left undone over the telephone, since another visit may not be feasible in the near future. Therefore, a statistician visiting a distant site must expect much longer and more intensive consulting sessions than would be usual for in-house visits. Such visits to distant field sites usually require far more mental and physical stamina than would be expected in-house, and a statistician unwilling to meet the demands will not produce a successful site visit. Ideally, a statistician should be able to make a site visit at the start of every major project. This is rarely accomplished, even for in-house situations; but visits to distant projects are accomplished far less frequently than nearby or in-house projects. In practice, it may be fortunate if a statistician ever visits a particular field site, let alone at the start of each project. Consequently, most statistical consulting in a widely dispersed organization is done by telephone. A statistician in a central location must therefore sharpen the skills that allow consultations over the telephone to be as effective as possible. When consulting over the telephone, the statistician must not only receive and assimilate complicated information but be able to convey complex ideas in a manner that is useful to the person in the field. In the absence of face-to-face communication, the difficulty of this task is greatly magnified. Possibly the most essential element for effective consultation by telephone is the ability to understand the situation quickly (objectives, study design, data structure, etc.). The statistician needs to ask precise questions that are *Richard Engeman is a Statistician, and William Dusenberry is a Statistician and Chief of the Section of Technical Services, both at the Denver Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bldg. 16, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225. The authors thank Dave Otis, John Oldemeyer, and anonymous referees for their helpful reviews.