ABSTRACT
Much of the academic training for statisticians focuses on data analysis methods and associated statistical theory. However, clinical trial statisticians perform many functions other than data analyses. A statistician’s time is spent designing clinical trials, running simulations, researching, data monitoring, data cleaning, interacting with other team members regarding important trial issues, participating in project meetings (or teleconferences), preparing for analyses, interpreting results, writing reports, and working on development programs. The academic training of statisticians does not prepare them for these diverse activities. However, there are several attributes and qualities that statisticians can develop to help prepare them for the breadth of these responsibilities and optimize their contribution to clinical trial research (Chuang-Stein 1996, 1999, 2005; Johnson 2007; Phillips 1999; Zelen 2006). Learning statistics is one thing, but learning to be a statistician is another.
