Iowa State University Iowa State University
Iowa State University

Statistical Laboratory

The Statistical Laboratory is a research and service institute of Iowa State University. Established in 1933, it was the first statistical center of its kind in the United States, bringing persons trained in statistical theory and its applications together to work as a single organized group. The laboratory has established a strong tradition of service and collaborative effort in developing and applying statistical methodology to support research throughout the university and beyond.

Historic Marker describing the first Statistical Laboratory

The faculty of the Statistical Laboratory typically also hold appointments in one or both of the other interlocking components of the Iowa State University statistics center: the Department of Statistics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (offering B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees) and the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. Some of the statistics faculty hold joint appointments with other academic departments in recognition of applied subject-matter expertise. Specialists are available for consultation on the statistical aspects of research in the social, physical and engineering, and biological sciences.

The Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology provides consulting and direct operational assistance in all aspects of sample surveys involving human populations. The Center provides services such as design and selection of samples, construction of questionnaires and related forms, data collection, data processing, and data summarization. CSSM also has considerable expertise in conducting natural resource surveys. Since 1956, the Center has cooperated with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, formerly the Soil Conservation Service) to develop survey methods and provide operational support for the National Resources Inventory, a longitudinal survey of agricultural and other natural resources on nonfederal lands. Results from these surveys are used extensively in the construction of Farm Bills in the U.S.

CSSM also organizes, maintains, and analyzes large data bases through cooperative agreements with NRCS. For example, the Center has been responsible for maintaining and developing the national views of a variety of US soils data bases since 1972. CSSM personnel have developed the software programs PC CARP, for analyzing surveys with complex designs, and EV CARP, for estimating measurement error models, in collaboration with the Census Bureau. In addition, software for estimating dietary intake distributions, SIDE, has been developed in cooperation with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Faculty have also enjoyed several statistical research agreements with federal agencies, including USDA, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Statistical Computing Group of the laboratory provides computer programming and data processing support for research projects conducted both on and off campus. Activities include developing software for special applications, designing and installing data bases for general use, maintaining general-purpose software systems, and consulting on problems related to scientific applications of digital computers. Research and support services for industry are jointly available from the Statistical Laboratory, the Department of Statistics, and the College of Engineering through the Iowa Quality Coalition. The laboratory also has a long history of joint research with such agencies as the United States Soil Conservation Service, Bureau of the Census, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Mayo Clinic, and National Animal Disease Laboratory. Grant research in statistics is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Institutes of Health. Sponsors from outside the university provide over one million dollars in research support a year.

The laboratory conducts a broad spectrum of research in theory and methods. The topics range from probability and stochastic processes, linear models, order statistics, spatial statistics, Bayesian inference, statistical computing, experimental design, time series, and survey sampling to reliability and statistical process/quality control, quantitative genetics, environmental statistics, psychometrics, and econometric statistics. This work is summarized in an annual report that includes abstracts of publications and theses.