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The Committee consists of nine members, three of whom are appointed/reappointed by the President Elect each year for three year terms. One member is also appointed by the President Elect to serve as the Chair.

Charge:

• To provide a point of contact with other societies and associations in the area of professional ethics.

• To develop and implement a program of education sensitizing members of ASA to the ethical issues in statistical practice and in other fields in which statistics is used.

• To maintain and promulgate, subject to Board review and approval, the set of ASA Ethical Guidelines that describes the general view of ethics in statistical practice, and develop and maintain supplements to the Ethical Guidelines for areas of application that give an understanding of ethical statistical practice as it applies to that area (e.g., law or medicine).

• The Committee does not have the authority to act on, rule on, or arbitrate ethical matters.

• Execution of a program of professional certification is not included in this charge.

Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice

The American Statistical Association’s Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice are intended to help statistical practitioners make decisions ethically. In these guidelines, “statistical practice” includes activities such as designing the collection of, summarizing, processing, analyzing, interpreting, or presenting data and model or algorithm development and deployment. Throughout these guidelines, the term “statistical practitioner” includes all those who engage in statistical practice, regardless of job title, profession, level, or field of degree. The guidelines are intended for individuals, but these principles are also relevant to organizations that engage in statistical practice.

The ethical guidelines aim to promote accountability by informing those who rely on any aspects of statistical practice of the standards they should expect. Society benefits from informed judgments supported by ethical statistical practice. All statistical practitioners are expected to follow these guidelines and encourage others to do the same.

In some situations, guideline principles may require balancing competing interests. If an unexpected ethical challenge arises, the ethical practitioner seeks guidance, not exceptions, in the guidelines. To justify unethical behaviors, or to exploit gaps in the guidelines, is unprofessional and inconsistent with these guidelines.