What's New - 2007 Archive What's New - 2006 Archive
05/01/2008
The Health Information Resource Center (HIRC), a national clearinghouse for consumer health information programs and materials, organizes the semi-annual World Wide Web (WWW) Health Awards. This Web-based health awards program is an extension of the HIRC's 14-year old National Health Information Awards (NHIA), the largest program of its kind in the United States. Westat projects received four awards in the Fall/Winter 2007 competition.
Award: Gold
Class: Advertising/Marketing Information
Division: Government
Audience: Children 0-12 years and/or parents
Award: Merit
Class: Patient Education Information
Division: Government
Audience: Other Allied Professionals
Award: Merit
Class: Patient Education Information
Division: Government
Audience: MDs/PhDs/RNs
Award: Merit
Class: Patient Education Information
Division: Government
Audience: All Adults 21+ years
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04/24/08
Westat researchers participated in this year's American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, discussing a wide range of topics, including special education, science instruction, teacher training, mentoring, and analysis of large-scale assessments, among others. The meeting was held in New York City from March 24-28, 2008, with more than 14,000 in attendance. A list of papers and presentations to which Westat staff (names in bold) contributed follows.
Janis Brown, Robert C. Perkins Jr., and Stephen Roey. Defining Special Education Students: Masking the Achievements of Students with Disabilities in the NAEP High School Transcript Study.
Tamara Cohen Daley and Elaine Carlson. Predicting Change in Eligibility Status Among Preschoolers in Special Education.
Gavin Fulmer. Successes and Setbacks in Collaboration for Conceptual Science Instruction: Relating Changing Teacher Practices to Contextual Pressures and Student Learning Outcomes.
Jennifer Hamilton and Cathy Lease. Impact of Training on Teacher Attitude. Roundtable discussion.
Frank Jenkins. Multilevel Modeling of Large-Scale Assessments with Deleted Levels and Informative Weights.
Craig Love, Elmima Johnson, and Tamara Bertrand. Mentoring in Evaluation: Establishing the Foundation.
Kimberley Raue, Gary Silverstein, Glenn Nyre, and Keith MacAllum. Involving Informal Science Institutions in K-12 STEM Reform: Case Study Findings.
Kathryn Schiller, Janis Brown, Stephen Roey William Schmidt, and Chandra Miller. Course Inflation: Measuring Mathematics Curriculum Exposure.
Denise St. Clair, Harriotte Heinzen, Frank Jenkins, and Elaine Carlson. Defining Risk for Preschoolers with Disabilities and Predicting Educational Performance.
Barbara Williams. Career Opportunities to Conduct Educational Research Influencing National Policy Decisions and Constructing Research Agendas. Roundtable discussion.
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04/11/08
Westat will be exhibiting at several health-related conferences and job fairs this year. Representatives will be on hand to speak with prospective clients and staff. See the following list for conferences, dates, and sites.
Partnerships with CROs
When: April 14-16, 2008
Where: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada
Booth number: 405
www.cropartners.com [*]
BioCapital Career Fair
When: April 17, 2008
Where: Bethesda Marriott, Bethesda, Maryland
Booth number: Westat
www.biospace.com [*]
Society for International Development (SID) Washington 2008 Annual Career Fair
When: May 7, 2008
Where: Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC
Booth number: Westat
www.sidw.org/2008AnnualCareerConference [*]
Society for Clinical Trials 29th Annual Meeting
When: May 18-21, 2008
Where: Hyatt Regency St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
Booth number: 100
www.sctweb.org [*]
Global Health Council International Conference
When: May 27- 31, 2008
Where: Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
Booth number: 304
www.globalhealth.org/conference [*]
American Public Health Association (APHA) 2008 Annual Meeting and Expo
When: October 25-29, 2008
Where: San Diego, California
Booth number: 1530
www.apha.org/meetings [*]
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04/09/08
Westat's programming staff provided their expertise at the SAS Global Forum 2008, from March 16-19, in San Antonio, Texas. The SAS Global Forum conference, known as the premier source of news and ideas for SAS software users, drew about 3,800 attendees for 3 days of technical presentations on SAS software programming techniques and use.
Westat staff members Stuart Long and Michael A. Raithel were invited to present SAS technical papers. In addition, Rachel Brown, Jennifer Fulton, Edward Heaton, Sigurd Hermansen, Stanley Legum, Stuart Long, and Michael A. Raithel all presented contributed papers. Altogether, Westat staff presented 9 SAS technical papers at the conference. Over the last 12 years, Westat staff have presented more than 170 technical papers at SAS conferences.
Duke Owen, Conference Executive Board member, and Rick Mitchell, Conference Section Chair, served organizational roles in the conference.
The list of papers presented by Westat staff and co-authors follows (Westat staff names in bold).
Rachel Brown and Jennifer Fulton. CSI: San Antonio - Common SAS Issues in Our Programs and Tips for Better Investigation of Your SAS Code.
Edward Heaton. Many-to-Many Merges in the Data Step.
Sigurd Hermansen. Evaluating Predictive Models: Computing and Interpreting the c Statistic.
Sigurd Hermansen (co-authors Himanshi Singh and Laura Hrycyk). SAS Scripting of a Production Database into an Open Test Environment.
Stanley Legum (co-author Sigurd Hermansen). Existential Moments in SAS Programming: SAS PROC SQL EXISTS and NOT EXISTS Quantifiers, and More.
Stuart Long (co-authors Jeffrey Abolafia and Lawrence Park). Adventures in ODS: Producing Customized Reports Using Output from Multiple SAS Procedures.
Stuart Long and Edward Heaton. Using the SAS DATA Step and PROC SQL to Create Macro Arrays.
Michael A. Raithel. Powering Your Organization's Web Applications with SAS Software.
Michael A. Raithel. Supporting SAS in a Research Environment.
For more information:
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03/26/08
The career of Dr. Edward C. Bryant, a Westat founder and statistician, was commemorated on March 13, 2008. Dr. Bryant was the former President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, and trustee of Westat's Employee Stock Ownership Plan. He died in January at the age of 92.
The audience included several of Dr. Bryant's family members, including his wife Virginia (Ginny) Bryant, and two granddaughters, Nina Bryant Freeman and Katie Kirkpatrick. Many Westat alumni attended the tribute, including James M. Daley and Donald W. King (co-founders of Westat), Doris Northup, Matt Lee, Stephen K. Dietz, and Carla E. Maffeo, plus nearly 200 current senior and junior staff.
The invited speakers included many from his career. All of their comments shared a common thread: an appreciation for Dr. Bryant's sense of humor, integrity, honesty, dedication, and generosity of spirit.
David R. Morganstein, Westat Vice President, spoke of Dr. Bryant's ease and ability in mentoring younger staff through their careers and how he left them feeling inspired, encouraged, and appreciated. Senior Statisticians Dr. Keith F. Rust and Dr. Richard L. Valliant talked about how Dr. Bryant was not only a mentor and colleague but also a neighbor and family friend. "He was a true gentleman; we will always value him," said Dr. Rust. Dr. Valliant added that Dr. Bryant and his wife "taught us what the lives of genuinely good people could be like," and that he was everlasting grateful to him for that experience.
Nancy W. Caldwell and Debra S. Vivari, Westat Vice Presidents, spoke from a project staff perspective about how Dr. Bryant treated colleagues like family and how he valued and appreciated the opinions of all staff.
Donald King, one of Dr. Bryant's partners in starting Westat, discussed Dr. Bryant's role as an educator and reminisced on his love for writing and instructing others in the field of statistics. Doris Northrup remarked on how Dr. Bryant reminded us that big things can come from humble beginnings. Thomas W. McKenna, Westat's Executive Vice President, discussed the many professional accomplishments of Dr. Bryant and noted that his unique business sense and aggressive decisions were critical contributions to earning key contracts early in our history.
Joseph A. Hunt, President of Westat, concluded the tribute, remarking on Dr. Bryant's valued leadership. "His ability to assemble and retain a talented and effective staff enabled our company to grow and prosper," noted Mr. Hunt. "His commitment and resolve made possible our return to employee ownership with its broad-based benefits shared throughout our company. Most important, his integrity and emphasis on quality remain the foundation of our corporate culture."
We at Westat feel a deep sense of loss with Dr. Bryant's passing. He was a valued colleague, mentor, and friend.
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03/18/08
The Society for Technical Communicators (STC) recognized five Westat products in its Distinguished Technical Communications 2007-08 Competition, [*] one for Best of Show and four others for Awards of Merit. The products were commended for applying the principles of technical communication in outstanding ways, particularly in how they anticipate and fulfill the needs of their audience.
Westat's video, Gaining Cooperation: Contact, Connect, Convince, was selected as Best of Show in the Online Communications Category. The video is part of the new package of basic interviewer training materials for Westat data collectors. Westat's Field Training Committee and Graphics Department collaborated to create this interactive video training program.
Four other Westat projects received Awards of Merit:
This short training program uses a combination of character and form animations to create a refresher training program for school staff who must select samples for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Nearly 30 posters were created for various NCI-related meetings throughout North America. Graphic artists worked with individual clients to create a unique identity for each meeting that could be used in supplemental materials, such as handouts, CDs, and name tags.
The 2007 Westat Calendar is a company-wide collaboration, produced under the direction of the Westat Human Resources Department for use by field staff. Each year all staff are invited to submit photographs around a theme. "Motion," the 2007 theme, had compelling images, which were combined with bright colors and calendar features to create an attractive, functional product.
This 97-page report summarizes the findings of leading cancer biology scientists and researchers. Westat's content and design experts combined the information with supporting images and graphs.
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02/14/08
Westat will continue to support the public communication and inquiry response activities of the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute (NEI). Westat provides health information in response to thousands of inquiries from the public each month; administers a cost recovery program; ships millions of NEI publications from a distribution center in Frederick, Maryland; and develops, maintains, and hosts NEI's public web site [*].
NEI conducts and supports research that helps prevent and treat eye diseases and other disorders of vision. This research leads to sight-saving treatments, reduces visual impairment and blindness, and improves the quality of life for people of all ages.
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02/01/08
Dr. Edward C. Bryant, statistician and a founder of Westat, died January 17, 2008, in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He was 92.
Dr. Bryant established Westat in 1961 while on the faculty of the University of Wyoming. In 1966, he moved the employee-owned company to Montgomery County, Maryland, where it is headquartered in Rockville.
Westat has grown into one of the leading survey and statistical research organizations in the United States and one of the largest employers in Montgomery County.
Dr. Bryant served as President and Chairman of Westat's Board of Directors. He was serving as trustee of Westat's Employee Stock Ownership Plan at the time of his death.
Dr. Bryant earned a master's degree from the University of Wyoming and a doctorate in mathematical statistics from Iowa State University. He published numerous professional papers and a widely used textbook, Statistical Analysis. Dr. Bryant was a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a member of many other professional societies.
In 1995, a scholarship [*] was established in his name by Westat and is awarded annually to a talented graduate student in statistics under an agreement with ASA.
Dr. Bryant is survived by his wife of 66 years, Virginia (Ginny) DeGering Bryant, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. His son, Eddie Bryant, his daughter, Bonnie Kirkpatrick, and a granddaughter preceded him in death.
Dr. Bryant was a man with incredible talent and generosity throughout his life, giving to his family, to Westat, and to the statistical profession in general. He will be missed by all who had the good fortune to know him and work with him.
A commemoration of Dr. Bryant's contributions to Westat is planned. Details will be announced at a later date.
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01/26/08
Westat will provide user-centered design, development, and maintenance services for two high-profile National Institutes of Health (NIH) web sites: the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) web site [*] and the NIH Stem Cell Information web site [*].
Project staff have plans to design and develop two web sites, one to promote awareness of Usher syndrome and the other aimed at preventing noise-induced hearing loss. Westat will also enhance and maintain NIDCD's intranet and advisory council web sites. For all sites, Westat will be responsible for HTML maintenance, graphic design, usability testing and implementing recommendations, compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and search engine optimization.
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01/10/08
Westat is partnering with Metis Associates to evaluate initiatives of the Center for Economic Opportunity, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's effort to move economically disadvantaged New Yorkers out of poverty. The initiatives are focused on young adults, poor working adults, and families with young children.
The Westat team will examine approximately 35 programs to determine which can best be evaluated, develop an evaluation design, and work with the selected programs to systematically collect information for evaluating impact, program implementation, and cost-benefit.
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