does the statistics profession have an identity crisis?

Does the Statistics Profession Have an Identity Crisis?Author(s): Robert L. MasonSource: Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 99, No. 465 (Mar., 2004), pp. 1-6Published by: American Statistical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27590347 .

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Does the Statistics Profession

Have an Identity Crisis?

Robert L. Mason

The field of statistics has numerous areas of application and many positive attributes. Various companies and organizations around the

world have chosen not only to adopt statistical tools, but also to integrate them into their associated work and ultimately into their decision

making processes. Consequently, the value of statistics as a quantitative tool of importance to society appears to be continually increasing. In contrast, statisticians are less visible to society, and their importance and necessity is not always as evident. This is a result of many

factors, some tied to the statistics profession itself and others due to external causes that are not easily controlled. This address presents some basic ideas for improving the recognition of statistics as a profession and of statisticians as the profession's core component. Included

is a discussion of ways to promote the recognition of the value of statisticians to society.

KEY WORDS: Communication; Multivariate thinking; Outreach; Professional recognition; Statisticians.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the first panel of an old Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown

says, "I learned something in school today. I signed up for folk

guitar, computer programming, stained glass, art, shoemaking, and a natural foods workshop." He continues, "I got spelling,

history, arithmetic, and two study periods." Charlie's friend

says, "So, what did you learn?" Charlie replies, "I learned that

what you sign up for and what you get are two different things." That same lesson can be applied to many events in our own

lives. How often do our expectations and our experiences turn

out differently? How often do we sign up for one thing and

receive something entirely different? We might view our choice

of statistics as a profession in the same way?namely, that it

was one thing in graduate school when we signed up, but an

entirely different thing when we joined the statistics work force.

That was my experience in 1971 after I graduated with my Ph.D. in Statistics from Southern Methodist University. My

family and friends all knew that I was a statistician, but few

knew what that meant, and most had never heard of the statistics

profession. In fact, my parents really wondered if there was a

future in such an unknown field. Consequently, I spent as much

time trying to promote statistics to others as I did trying to gain tenure at the university where I worked. However, this lack of

recognition did not seem to bother too many of my colleagues,

possibly because within my department it was well known that

statistics was necessary, and everyone employed there mutually

agreed that statistics was vital to them.

In thejate 1970s, after I started working at Southwest

Research Institute in San Antonio, I experienced another un

expected reaction to statistics. My fellow workers, who now

included engineers, chemists, and physical scientists, generally felt that statisticians were of limited use to them. Especially for

eign to them were the concepts that statistics could be beneficial

to any experimenter and that statistical thinking was vital to un

derstanding variation. Mostly my coworkers and friends told

humorous stories about how statistics was the most dreaded course they took in college. Many acknowledged that they used

statistics only when their clients mandated it, and they counted on me as someone who could "talk statistics" when it was nec

essary.

Fast-forward to the present, and we see a tremendous change in society's attitude toward statistics. The value of statistics is

definitely recognized in almost every field of study from as

tronomy to zoology. From kindergarten to college, increasing numbers of students are being introduced to the concepts of

statistical thinking and of analytical approaches to summariz

ing and drawing inferences from data. It is commonplace to see

kindergarten students using M&M's to learn how to create a

barchart. This past year, more than 58,000 high school students

took the advanced placement statistics examination to obtain

college credit for statistics while still in high school.

Many companies offer training courses in statistics to busi

ness, government, and industry. These courses generally are

well received and attended. All of this is aided by an extensive

array of computer software that quickly allows individuals who are minimally trained in statistics to perform statistical analyses with a single click of a mouse. A well-founded fear, however, is

that few of these individuals know much about the actual pro cedures that they are attempting to apply.

Robert L. Mason is Institute Analyst, Southwest Research Institute, San An

tonio, TX 78228-0510. This article is the ASA Presidential Address delivered

at Joint Statistical Meetings in San Francisco, CA on August 5, 2003.

? 2004 American Statistical Association Journal of the American Statistical Association

March 2004, Vol. 99, No. 465, Presidential Address DO110.1198/016214504000000016



2 Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 2004

As an example of the value of statistics, consider the Envi

ronmental Protection Agency's use of statistical models to pre

dict the emissions levels of automobiles by sampling the fuel

properties of gasoline sold at service stations. Or consider the

use of statistics to determine the efficacy of a new drug, to as

sess the merits of a new test procedure, to evaluate the ability of

honeybees to detect land mines in unmarked areas, or to project

property losses associated with hurricanes or earthquakes. In all

of these endeavors there are many types of data analysts, fields

of applications, statistical societies, education levels in statis

tics, and types of statistical publications. But common to all of

them is the statistics discipline.

2. THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION

Given the increasing recognition of the value of statistics, one

might wonder if a similar need and appreciation is growing for

statisticians. Examining this issue leads one initially to question the existence of the necessary vision and leadership to guide

professionals in statistics. Such attributes generally come from

statistical society leaders, academicians, industrial practition

ers, and government employees in the field of statistics. Who

unites all of these groups of statisticians? This is accomplished

by various statistical societies, including the American Statisti

cal Association (ASA), the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the International Biometrie Society, the Statistical Society of

Canada, and others. Of these, the ASA is the oldest and largest

society in North America.

The ASA had a very modest beginning, with only five men

gathering together in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27,

1839, to form the society. Among these individuals was the first

ASA President, Richard Fletcher. From this humble start, the

Association has grown to include more than 16,000 profession als in government, academia, and industry. Education initiatives

span from kindergarten to college, and statistical thinking is

broadly promoted. In parallel, the field of statistics has contin

ued to evolve as a science and to expand into numerous appli

cation areas. It is being used by more and more data analysts,

crossing and crisscrossing into other fields to the point where

its true identity has become somewhat fuzzy and distorted and

no longer seems clearly visible.

Computers have greatly aided this process, making it easier

to perform complex analyses and computations. The result is

that statistics has become an inherent part of many other sci

ences and disciplines, several of which have subgroups that

develop their own statistical practices. Consider the follow

ing example. Recently I was serving on a project team in my

company that was evaluating the merits of an internal proposal for addressing the physical and chemical processes in comets

and advancing understanding of the comet environment. In the

presentation, reference was made to a new analytical tool that

might have applications in space physics. This tool was to be

used to sort through the various chemical elements that con

stitute comets to determine which ones are most prevalent or

important, so these could be included in computer models of

comets. At the project meeting, the proposal presenters intro

duced a computer science professor from a local university who

spoke about using a new analytical methodology that he was re

searching, termed "knowledge discovery and data mining" and

described as a computer science tool. Unfortunately, this pre

sentation contained no mention of statistics.

Despite such challenges, the ASA has adapted to the changes

occurring around it and continues to maintain its uniqueness

while growing in new directions. Its vision statement remains

applicable:

To be a world leader in promoting statistical practices,

applications, and research; publishing statistical journals;

improving statistical education; and advancing the statis

tics profession.

A good example of this responsiveness is in the recent creation

of the ASA Center for Statistics Education and the ASA s ef

forts to produce programs to meet the education needs of soci

ety. This year, the ASA hired a new Assistant Director, who

is charged with unifying and promoting statistics education

in kindergarten through college (K-16). Advanced placement courses in statistics continue to increase, as do the number of

educators teaching statistics in the elementary grades. Other ex

amples of new directions for the ASA are its ongoing efforts to convert ASA publications to electronic format, to introduce

on-line journals, and to find faster and more efficient methods

of publishing and distributing its journals. These changes have

had a positive effect on the ASA and its members.

The ASA remains a world leader in the statistics field, and

is an organization that statisticians can count on for innovation

in statistical applications. This growth is directly attributable to the vision and work of the ASA's leaders and volunteers, to

good statistical research by its members, and to the varied and

novel applications introduced by the many users of statistics.

3. ARE STATISTICIANS HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS?

Let us now turn our attention to individual statisticians.

A phenomenon that continues to create challenges for the sta

tistics profession is the ease with which data can be collected in

various studies and experiments. There seems to be much more

data available today than yesterday, and thus much more of a

need for someone to analyze and interpret them. A good exam

ple is the investigation into the Columbia space shuttle accident

that occurred on February 1, 2003. It took weeks to decipher the data and to provide adequate imagery from the many pic tures of the rocket (Fig. 1). Further, it took extensive testing to

determine whether the piece of foam insulation that broke away from the external fuel tank during the shuttle's launch actually

damaged the leading edge of its left wing (see CAIB Report, 2003). This testing in turn involved the collection of a tremen

dous amount of data, all of which required detailed analysis. NASA had to count on many analysts to draw conclusions from

all of the collected data.

This raises the key question of what should be the statisti

cian's role in such situations. Several past ASA Presidents have

considered this problem, and each has sought different solu

tions. Don Marquardt discussed the importance of statisticians and what role they needed to take to maintain their autonomy

(Marquardt 1987). He suggested that statisticians be purveyors of the scientific method and that each statistician, especially the

applied statistician, develop a self-image of an entrepreneur in

statistics.



Mason: Does the Statistics Profession Have an Identity Crisis? 3

Figure 1. The Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. Circle A indicates the left bipod ramp on the forward attach point of the external fuel tank

(where a piece of insulating foam separated from the tank) and circle B

indicates the impact area on the leading edge of the left wing. (Photo courtesy of NASA.)

Stu Hunter discussed statistics as a full-fledged profession, and targeted certification as a means of protecting the whole

ness of the profession (Hunter 1994). He also made some dire

comments about what to expect if we failed to adopt certifica

tion: But what of those many young able people for whom the title "statistician" can

today be mistaken for someone sleepily counting sheep? Will society at large have any greater respect for these individuals at the close of the next decade?

Richard Gunst, a well-respected statistician who serves as

chair of the Department of Statistical Science at Southern

Methodist University, sent me an updated version of this fore

cast in response to a recent request to describe the challenges

facing academic departments in statistics. He stated:

The greatest crisis facing the statistics profession in academics today is its iden

tity. ASA has wrestled with this a number of times over the last several decades.

At one time there was a push for certification. The fact that nothing has been

done is a testimony to the lack of an identity for statisticians.

The common thread in these statements is that problems exist

in communicating and maintaining the role of statisticians in

society. Each of us is called to nurture the health of the statistics

profession. This can be done in many different ways, including

outreach, interaction with society at large, and willingness to

be a spokesperson for the profession. Along the way, it seems

to have become common for the governing bodies of statistical

associations to want to be "inclusive" of everyone doing data

analysis. In the statistics field there is room for all, regardless of origin or style, and we should definitely try to be inclusive,

but doing so raises the questions of whether we have failed to

take a stand for what it means to be a professional statistician

and whether this desire to be inclusive is indirectly leading to a

loss of our identity as statisticians.

Consider the challenges now facing academic departments of

statistics. Our graduate statistics programs are the lifeblood of

our profession. However, in the past year several chairs of aca

demic departments of statistics have expressed concerns about

student recruitment to these programs. In particular, the chairs

have noted that they are losing domestic students at an alarming rate in their programs. This problems has several facets. Many blame the situation on the job market, and on the fact that peo

ple can be successful with only a master's degree. Others point to the fact that statistics tends to be a low-profile discipline, par

ticularly at the undergraduate level, and hence the student does

not have much time to build technical expertise. Could a lack of

a true identity for statisticians be the cause of these problems? What does this lack of identity bode for the future of statistics

departments? Consider the fact that funding for basic research in statis

tics is virtually unavailable at many research universities and

institutions. Instead, funding is oriented almost totally toward

problem solving using advances in technology. As an example, consider the field of medical imaging using computed tomogra

phy to probe the brain and discover differences in functioning. The statistical issues that need to be addressed in this area are

many and complex?and they are fundable. However, physi

cists, medical doctors, and epidemiologists are doing the statis

tics work, much of it at the level of Mests, and are receiving most of the funding. In contrast, statisticians are not involved in

most of that work and thus receive little or no funding. Again, there is an apparent identity crisis.

This problem is a serious one for statisticians and leads many to pursue work in areas within the statistics field where the iden

tity crisis is not so severe. For example, today biostatisticians

are in great demand, with relatively plentiful job opportunities.

Departments of biostatistics seem to receive plenty of research

funding and have unified targets of opportunity. In addition, be

cause biostatisticians have a relatively well-defined job descrip

tion, their curriculum includes subjects unique to their area. All

of these factors help reduce the inclusiveness embedded in the

biostatistics title, and thus strengthens the identity of biostatis

ticians.

How can we remove this identity problem for statisticians?

Ron Iman, in his ASA Presidential Address (Iman 1995),

looked outside the profession to perception, preparation, and

promotion (the "three P's," as he labeled them). He suggested that statisticians needed to improve perception by others by

conveying a sense of the value of statistics to them, improve

preparation by more carefully evaluating how we train pro fessional statisticians and form partnerships between academia

and industry, and continually promote ourselves by outreaching to society at large.




In a more recent ASA Presidential Address, Jonas Ellenberg (2000) discussed the need to increase the recognition of the sta

tisticians' importance by the general public as well as by other

professionals. He suggested that statisticians promote the worth

of their input and pay more attention to the simple elements of

presentation and communication. He placed the responsibility for increasing the recognition of statisticians directly on each

individual in the profession. These comments are very pertinent

and definitely on target. It follows from these remarks that to overcome this identity

crisis, statisticians need to be more definitive about who they are and what they do in their jobs. As someone remarked at a

recent ASA chapter meeting, we must strive to eliminate the

general public's view that all that we do is record the statistics

at sporting events. This can be accomplished in several ways,

as I discuss next.

4. BASIC INGREDIENTS FOR ADDRESSING THE IDENTITY CRISIS

In May 2002, the National Science Foundation held a work

shop on the future of statistics so that the statistics commu

nity could meet to assess the current status and needs of the

field (Lindsay, Kettenring, and Siegmund 2003). The workshop drew approximately 50 participants, mostly from universities

and several from outside the United States. Many prestigious statisticians presented their views about the future of statistics

and what its goals should be over the next two decades. The

recommendations made by this group included the following:

Promote understanding of statistical science.

Strengthen the core of statistics research.

Develop new models for statistics education.

Accelerate the recruitment of the next generation.

Each of these recommendations requires work by statisticians,

along with appropriate funding to make it happen. The ASA

has implemented initiatives in at least two of these areas. First, as mentioned earlier, the ASA is building an impressive Center

for Statistics Education. Developing new models for statistics

education is a natural outgrowth of several of the related ASA

education committees. Second, the ASA has recently hired a

membership consultant and reorganized its membership com

mittee in an effort to increase the recruitment and retention of

statisticians. ASA's current emphasis is on recruiting students

in the hope that these student members will naturally want to

stay in the profession when they graduate and become the sta

tisticians on whom we can count in the future.

Reviewing these areas of concern, one also might question

what statisticians are doing to prepare to face such future chal

lenges. Can we find the path to retained importance, increased

professional recognition, and improved perception by others?

More important, how do we preserve our uniqueness as statis

ticians given the many overlaps of statistics with other fields?

Perhaps part of the answer to these questions lies in knowing and understanding what separates us from other professionals,

and using this as a selling point for our profession. One of my colleagues has suggested that statisticians think

differently than their nonstatistical colleagues. Is this really true? Most of us would probably say "no." For example, we

have many common characteristics with engineers. We are

both problem solvers and to a certain extent model builders,

although we use different sets of tools. Engineers are usually

first-principle oriented, whereas statisticians are data oriented.

However, statisticians are expected to have analytical capabil

ities. Nonetheless, I have noticed several differences between

engineers and statisticians and I believe that these disparities are what make the statisticians unique.

One difference is in the way in which we view and ana

lyze data that are collected simultaneously on many related

variables. As mentioned earlier, we have the ability to rapidly collect data on many variables for very complicated processes.

Many of my engineering colleagues usually view the data one

variable at a time, as if the variables are all independent, but

all that they are able to see is the deviation in the individual

variable. Locating the source of their engineering problems be comes very difficult, because the deviation in each individual

variable can be very small. From experience and training, sta

tisticians tend to examine variables simultaneously using mul

tivariate methods, because these methods can be used to extract

information on how all of the variables are behaving relative to one another. This type of multivariate thinking is foreign to

most other disciplines but common to statisticians due to our

training and experience.

Another important difference is that statisticians have the

ability to see the entire problem and how the various parts fit

together. Statisticians do not need to be convinced to run a

test program here or a design there; they know where these

things need to be done and how to integrate them into a pro

gram to make it more cost-effective and produce a better out

come. Someone trained in a specific field of study will likely not have this perspective. Thus statisticians can easily assume

the role of leadership on projects. What a great way to estab

lish an identity! This is one of the reasons why we need to train

statisticians to have broad backgrounds, preferably in science, and strong presentation and communication skills, areas often

ignored in our training. Currently our training is too technical, and we are all happy to survive it. However, our survival in the

real world depends greatly on our ability to communicate and

promote statistics after we leave school.

In response to the need to promote our statistical identity to

ensure the long-term survival of our profession, I have compiled

a list of a few suggested practices:

Develop communication skills.

Communications is an essential component of statistics

but is seldom, if ever, taught in statistics education. Com

panies often have to teach new graduates in statistics how

to write, make presentations, and communicate with their

fellow researchers, especially in a nonstatistical manner.

Improvement in this area would help us all.

Be more proactive with our knowledge.

Sharing our knowledge with others is admirable, but we

need to be more aggressive in demonstrating that we are

the source of this knowledge and continue to develop it

to meet the needs of others. Our image in academics is

moderately strong, but we need to continue to seek oppor

tunities to show our academic strengths to others.

Retain our core values.

Our core values center on education, research, and solv

ing real problems by applying existing statistical methods,



Mason: Does the Statistics Profession Have an Identity Crisis? 5

adapting existing methods, and developing new methods.

Each of us is often charged with teaching others about sta

tistics, doing research on new topics in our field, or ap

plying statistical methods to the solution of problems. We

need to emphasize these aspects in describing our own

work and more closely identify our profession with these

traits.

Publicize our successes.

Statisticians routinely make invaluable contributions that

improve products, conserve resources, save money, and

make fundamental contributions to society. Yet as impor

tant as these contributions are, we have few mechanisms

for publicizing these valuable contributions. We need to

publicize these results to society. Cross over into other disciplines.

We should continue to encourage interactions with other

disciplines, such as those in medicine, biology, engineer

ing, and physical sciences. Making presentations at con

ferences of other societies can have a great impact. ASA

sections often use their talents and treasuries to promote

statistics to ASA members working in individual applica tion areas, but the sections might also assist by enhancing

the opportunities for these statisticians to interact with pro fessional societies that share similar interests.

Increase our outreach efforts.

Opportunities for outreach occur daily. For example, ear

lier this year Stu Hunter asked the ASA to look at working with the Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technol

ogy to act on a recent recommendation of the National

Research Council that statistics should be required in un

dergraduate engineering programs. This type of outreach

requires volunteer help, and, when applicable, each of us

needs to be willing to respond to such requests and to

participate in the activity. Chapters have been highly suc

cessful in outreach efforts through such activities as judg

ing science fairs and promoting statistics careers to high school students. Our colleagues need continued encour

agement and support to increase these types of activities.

Further the role of statistics in public policy. Statisticians need to become better advocates of statistics,

particularly in public policy matters. The ASA has a very active Advisory Committee on Scientific and Public Af

fairs that has proposed many good ideas in this area, in

cluding convening communications experts to advise the

ASA on effective ways to promote the discipline in the

areas of communications and interacting with the media.

What is now needed is the funding to devote to these ef

forts and the key volunteers to lead them.

Broaden the statistics community.

We need to recruit more segments of data users, such as

master's-degreed statisticians; those in fields with little

ASA support, such as statistical programmers; and those in

large-user fields, such as biostatistics. There is a great need

to recruit more students into our graduate programs and

to continue to encourage and attract more minorities and

women to the field of statistics. It would also be beneficial

to expand the ASA to include more international members.

But in all these efforts we must be sure to identify the role

of statisticians and maintain their unique identity.

Further the work in statistics education.

We need to continue building in the area of statistics edu

cation. A strong foothold has been gained in this field, but

the ASA needs to maintain its current efforts and continue

to expand, to ensure that other groups and societies do not

dominate the field and diminish our influence. The devel

opment of the Center for Statistics Education needs to be

a high priority at the ASA for several more years, to bring

many of the programs to fruition.

There are surely many other ideas for promoting our identity as

statisticians, but this list provides a useful illustration of areas

that need to be addressed by both the profession as a whole and

each of us. Now is the time to take action!

5. A FUTURE GLIMPSE

In another old Peanuts cartoon, Snoopy deals with the iden

tity issue. He thinks the following: "Yesterday I was a dog. To

day I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement." Let's hope this attitude

never occurs among statisticians.

Dr. Charles Anderson, an Engineering Director at Southwest

Research Institute, was recently celebrating his department's

accomplishments in testing whether the foam insulation from

the external fuel tank of the Columbia space shuttle damaged the leading edge of its left wing (see Fig. 2; Walker and Grosch

2003). A colleague asked him how he was able to respond so

quickly to the unique request from NASA to perform these

types of tests, given that they had never been done before and

could not have been anticipated. His response was that it was

virtually impossible to foretell such a future event, but that it

was possible to anticipate opportunities in the future. He called

such preparation "planned opportunism." By that he meant that

his department had been active for many years before this event

planning their activities and research capabilities so that they would be in a position to respond to opportunities that they ex

pected to be presented with by their clients.

This same approach would be useful for statisticians. We

need to be proactive in a similar way by anticipating the op

portunities that may exist in the future for the statistics profes sion and building the capabilities within the organization so that

we are ready to act on them. We also might gain by spending more time improving our identity as statisticians. The reality

is that statisticians have many unique traits, but these generally remain hidden from society. It reminds me of the story of an

artist who painted a door with no handle; the artist's message was that one must open the door from inside to let others see

what is there. Maybe this is the problem with statisticians and

statistics in general. We had better start opening that door and

letting others see what we do, or else no one will know that we

exist. We must outreach to others at all levels so that our talents

can be seen. As Richard Scheaffer described in his ASA Pres

idential Address, we must become bridge builders and work at

connecting society to the statistics profession (Scheaffer 2002). Will the statistics profession continue to exist for the next

50 years? Will statisticians expand their influence and help

guide a multitude of new users, or will the profession shrink

to a small core of basic researchers? When we ask ourselves

what is really important in our lives, several things immediately




$#^5 BE

b?@

Figure 2. Pictures of Impact From Tests Conducted at Southwest Research Institute of Foam Insulation Fired From a Gas-Powered Cannon at the Leading Edge of a Reinforced Carbon Panel Representing the Left Wing of the Space Shuttle. (Photo courtesy ofSoutwest Research Institute.)

come to mind, such as religion, family, or friends. Somewhere down the list is a place for our profession. The challenge is in

continuing to develop with it, and not be left behind. We must be willing to grow, to learn new skills, and to interact with oth ers. Statistics definitely gives us the opportunity to develop as

leaders, to assume responsibility for our work, and to use sta

tistical tools to provide new knowledge to society. We must in turn preserve its identity as well as our own.

On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan took the oath of office for President of the United States. I would like to quote from the end of his inaugural address, because it fits our current situation

quite well:

The crisis that we are facing today does not require of us the sacrifice that so

many thousands have been called on to make. It does require, however, our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems that confront us.

[Received January 2004. Revised January 2004.]

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Ellenberg, J. H. (2000), "Statisticians' Significance," Journal of the American Statistical Association, 95, 1-8.

Hunter, J. S. (1994), "Statistics as a Profession," Journal of the American Sta tistical Association, 89, 1-6.

Iman, R. L. (1995), "New Paradigms for the Statistics Profession," Journal of the American Statistical Association, 90, 1-6.

Lindsay, B., Kettenring, J., and Siegmund, D. (eds.) (2003), "Statistics: Chal

lenges and Opportunities for the Twenty-First Century," National Science Foundation Workshop Report.

Marquardt, D. W. (1987), "The Importance of Statisticians," Journal of the American Statistical Association, 82, 1-7.

Scheaffer, R. L. (2002), "Statistical Bridges," Journal of the American Statisti cal Association, 97, 1-7.

Walker, J. D., and Grosch, D. J. (2003), "On the Leading Edge," Technology Today, 24, 2-9.



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