Academic Statistics: Growth, Change, and Federal Support

Abstract

Statistics is one of the few academic fields that continued to expand rapidly in the 1970's. We present data on growth in Ph.D. production, faculty size, and number of journals. Statistics is not a branch of mathematics but has both scientific and mathematical components. We examine federal support in light of the special characteristics of statistical research and the continuing growth of the field. Although the data are not completely adequate, it is clear that support of academic basic research in statistics does not reflect the increased prominence of statistics among the mathematical sciences. We make specific suggestions for fruitful use of increased resources for research.

Key Words:

• Funding of statistics research
• National Science Foundation
• Demographics of statistics