Who is the Statistical Consultant? An Analysis of the CNSL Directory

Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center 

In 2026, the ASA Statistical Consulting Section announced it is redesigning its Consultant Directory. Before any data was lost, I scraped all 949 active profiles from the site, containing affiliations, skills, specializations and languages.

This data was analyzed using K Medioids to identify archetypical consultants. This allows the Section to better understand its membership, and also provides a map of specializations in statistical consulting as a distinct profession. The Silhouette criterion suggested an unusually high number of clusters (k=23) relative to the size of the data set.

Investigating further, I calculated the second-nearest medioid for each profile and found that only 10 of the 23 occurred, revealing a many-to-many relationship between primary and secondary specialties. Key archetypes identified include a dominant Academic Biostatistician group (84% PhD) focused on clinical trials, and distinct specialities such as Industrial Quality Engineers (Six Sigma) and Private-Sector Survey Specialists. These results suggest a professional divide between academics and independent practitioners; a one-size-fits-all directory may fit none.

Clustering

Statistical Consulting 

Section on Statistical Consulting