The French Statistical Society

Founded in 1997


The Société Française de Statistique (French Statistical Society) was founded in 1997. However, this date gives a totally wrong impression of the history of the Society since it really dates back to 1860 when the 'Société de Statistique de Paris' (Statistical Society of Paris) was founded. The 'French Statistical Society' is not simply a renaming of the 'Statistical Society of Paris', since the story is considerably more complicated. It was also built on the 'Association pour la Statistique et ses Utilisations' (Association for Statistics and its Uses) which was itself originally the 'Association des Statisticiens Universitaires' (Association of University Statisticians) founded in 1969 and became the 'Association for Statistics and its Uses' in 1987.

For an English version of the article Les Racines de la Societe Française de Statistique (The roots of the French Statistical Society) by Jean-Jacques Droesbeke giving the full story of French Statistical Society and the societies which amalgamated in its formation, see THIS LINK.

We have a separate article on the Statistical Society of Paris.

We have a separate article on the Association for Statistics and its Uses.

Let us give some details here of the French Statistical Society since its founding in 1997. Let us first indicate that the French Statistical Society is known as the SFdS. We see from [2] the aims of the Society:-
The SFdS is a learned society founded in 1997, specialising in statistics, whose mission is to promote the use of statistics and its understanding and to promote its methodological developments. For this purpose, it facilitates exchanges between statisticians from administrations, companies, educational institutions and research institutions through a set of actions some of which we detail below. The SFdS was recognized by public decree of 3 December 1998. It aims to bring together all researchers, engineers, teachers and users of statistics, whatever the nature of their functions and the place where they exercise them: thus it constitutes a privileged place of meetings, exchanges and reflections.
We now list some of the activities organised by the SFdS (see [2] for further details).

Days of Statistics (JdS):

This is the most important scientific event in the French-speaking statistical world. Each event brings together more than 400 researchers, teachers and practitioners. These were begun by the Association of University Statisticians, the first being held in Lyon in 1970. The 2017 'Days' were held in Avignon from 29 May to 2 June.

Statistical Workshops:

The SFdS has organised these workshops since 2001 for professional statisticians. These workshops are on new topics particularly topics which appear to have considerable promise of becoming important. The goal is to provide theoretical statisticians and users of statistics with insights and methods to improve their knowledge and improve the ability of users to solve problems in their businesses.

ECAS-SFdS courses:

'European Courses in Advanced Statistics' (ECAS) have been organised since 1987, originally by the Association of University Statisticians. The ECAS courses are intended to offer postgraduate training in special areas of statistics for both researchers and teachers at universities. Also professionals working in industry who are interested in the application of new statistical methods are invited to participate. The participants are expected to have a good background in statistics at the Ph.D. level although not necessarily oriented to the particular subject of the course. Young researchers from all European countries are especially encouraged to participate and to contribute to an international audience.

Mathematics Employment Forum:

These one-day meetings focusing on a wide range of mathematical topics are co-organised with other organisations such as the 'Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles'. The first Forum was held at the 'Institut Océanographique de Paris' on the 26 January 2012.

Study Days in Statistics (JES):

These have been organised since 1984, originally by the Association of University Statisticians, taking place in even years. These days are open to an audience of statisticians who are not necessarily specialists in the subject. The presentations are the subject of a document distributed to the participants and a book. The JES consists of a week of an increasingly deep study on a well defined theme, in an ideal setting, with a series of meetings and discussions. The number of participants is limited to 45.

Topics covered in previous JES meetings:
1984: Time series analysis.
1986: Surveys.
1988: Statistical analysis of the durations of life (data from censuses).
1990: Models for Multidimensional Data Analysis.
1992: ARCH Model and Applications to Finance.
1994: Nonparametric Inference, Rank Statistics.
1996: Plans of Experiments, Industrial Applications.
1998: Bayesian Methods in Statistics.
2000: Statistical Models for Qualitative Data.
2002: Statistical Analysis of Spatial Data.
2004: Statistical Analysis of Longitudinal Data.
2006: Nonparametric Approaches in Regression.
2008: Latent Variable Models and Mixture Models.
2010: Statistical Approaches to Risk.
2012: Robust Methods in Statistics.
2014: Choice and Aggregation of Models.
2016: Statistical Learning and Big Data.
Young Statisticians Meeting (RJS):

These are designed to encourage exchanges between young statisticians, give them a broader view of statistics, and let them present their work in a user-friendly atmosphere.

SFdS Meeting on Methods and Software:

The website [2] states:-
Software is an essential element of statistics, whether it is applied in a company or in the public sector or a more academic setting such as, for example, scientific research. Software and theoretical or methodological research feed on each other, it is enough to look at the number of publications that illustrate their results by numerical simulations, and the integration back into the software of innovative methods which have reached maturity. The SFdS therefore proposes meetings that involve software as a constituent element of statistical knowledge. Thus, the 'SFdS Meetings on Methods and Software' have the following objectives:

To allow the meeting between the academic, the industrial and the software worlds.

To show the contribution of software on various themes.

The 'SFdS Meetings on Methods and Software' are neither a training nor a forum of users, but a place of exchange where there is a balanced cooperation between methods and software. They are aimed at anyone wishing to discover or update their knowledge on a given subject, and are interested in the illustration of methods through software. They are organized according to a format of three annual sessions (autumn, winter, spring) on an afternoon, around various themes.
StatLearn:

This consists of two days of state-of-the-art workshops on new trends in statistical learning.

Symposium on Statistical Learning and Data Science (SLDS):

The 'Statistical Learning and Data Science Symposium' is a meeting and an exchange forum for theorists, researchers and practitioners in the fields of Data Science, Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Life Sciences. Presenting new developments, launching new research, focusing on the complex links between data, data science and democracy - these are the main objectives of this event. The first Symposium was held at the University of Dauphine in Paris 1-3 April 2009.

The French Statistical Society Publications

The Society publishes, in cooperation with other organisations, a number of journals. Let us look briefly at each:

Le Journal de la Société Française de Statistique

This Journal is the official publication of the French Statistical Society. It publishes peer-reviewed articles, in French or in English, dedicated to methodological researches and applications in all fields of statistics. It is co-edited with the French Mathematical Society. The 'Société de Statistique de France' published the Revue de Statistique Appliquée from 1992 onwards, although the Journal had been published earlier. It amalgamated with the Journal de la Société Française de Statistique and became an electronic journal in 2009. We note that the Journal de la Société Française de Statistique had been published from 1860 onwards.

La revue Statistique et Enseignement

This journal aims to publish contributions relating to education involving statistics, statistical training and popularisation of statistics. It is written at the high school/university level and covers topics such as critical reflections on the use of statistics, presentations of statistical activities and analysis of statistical methods. It began publication in 2010.

La revue Statistique et Société

This journal was set up in 2013. It is intended for anyone interested in the use of statistics in any walk of life. It examines current issues, the use of statistical methods in all areas, and the debates that are generated concerning statistical claims.

La revue CSBIGS

This is Journal of Case Studies in Business, Industry and Government Statistics. It is jointly published by the French Statistical Society and Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. Its purpose is to publish case studies mainly in the fields of the major economic sectors and official statistics. The aim is to promote the use of statistical techniques by illustrating their implementation in the case of particular applications, to allow consultants to compare practices with input from academic experts, and to encourage the community to interact on particular cases by proposing studies or alternative approaches.

Visit the society website.

References (show)

  1. J-J Droesbeke, Les Racines de la Societe Française de Statistique, Laboratoire de Méthodologie du Traitement des Données, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
  2. The French Statistical Society website. https://www.sfds.asso.fr
  3. References in J-J Droesbeke, Les Racines de la Societe Française de Statistique are at THIS LINK.

Last Updated February 2018