What do statisticians working in policy research need from statistical education?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent knowledge and skills provided to students majoring in statistics satisfy the expectations of the work environment in policy research centers. A list of items reflecting statistics knowledge and statistical skills as well as soft skills required for researchers working in policy research centers was developed. Then, the list was integrated in a pre-coded questionnaire addressed to junior statisticians working in policy research centers and their managers to measure statisticians' exposure to different items. The results showed a need for improving content of statistical education and indicated a need to emphasize statistical thinking in the cognitive formation of statistics graduates. The dose of statistical methods usually offered in a standard statistics program seems to be adequate and can help statisticians to analyze problems in an evidence-based manner. In addition, the results suggested that statistical education focuses on theoretical concepts rather than their application in real-world issues. Despite the fact that computer skills of statistics graduates are satisfactory, there is a need to improve their ability in conducting statistical analysis using database software.