How to overcome the gap between the available statistical methods and their effective use by researchers in social sciences. A few thoughts about the experience in the PRESTA programme

PRESTA is a training programme in applied statistics for teachers and researchers in South American universities, sponsored by the European Union, which started in 1994. It was intended to make a convergent presentation of "exploratory data analysis" (in the Anglo-Saxon tradition) and " data analysis" (in the French tradition) to a "critical mass" of users. The seminars organised in its first quinquennium were attended by 2,500 researchers and teachers from about 300 universities. Working in the field, we soon realised the importance of the distance between the currently available statistical methods and their effective and potential uses. Therefore, the research programme is focused on the pedagogical contents and the institutional components of this "gap". In this paper, we summarise our experience with regard to the main factors that led to this situation and the strategies developed to solve it.