Statistics 601

Description:

The Statistical Consulting course Stat 601 is individualized project course. The goal of this course is to help you develop the skills required of a statistical consultant by completing a substantive consulting project for a client under faculty supervision. Communication and consulting management skills will be emphasized in addition to formal data analysis and problem solving. Depending on the scope of the project either a single student or a team of two students will assist the client in formulating and meeting project objectives. To receive credit for the class, the student must produce a written final report and give a 20 minute oral summary of their project work. Some sample project reports are available below for download.

Students will be eligible to begin project work once they have completed Stat 641 and Stat 645. AS SOON AS you meet these requirements please notify either Professor Notz or Professor Santner and also provide them with a list of the courses you have completed (to allow optimum matching of project requirements with student backgrounds). Projects suitable for MAS come into the Consulting Service on an irregular basis and we will assign one to you as quickly as possible. In order to obtain formal course credit, students should sign up for Stat 601 as soon as possible after they have completed the requirements. If you have any questions, please contact either Professors Notz or Santner.

Requirements of Your Written Project Report

• Executive Summary: statement of research question and the answer that the report develops
• Data: description, quality checking, exploratory data analysis, and initial conclusions of the EDA
• Statistical Modeling, Methodology used, and Resulting Inference
• Detailed Conclusions

Some Sample Written Project Reports

• Cognitive Communication Disorders After Traumatic Brain Injury: Implications for Clinical Practice
• Quantifying Changes in Object Control Skills in Young Children Following an Eight-Week Intervention
• Factors associated with body weight and desire to lose weight among college women
• Prediction of PWEB Unit and BRIAN Unit based on Cataloging Unit, Content, and Administrative Unit
• Optimization of An Accelerated Aging Protocol to Mimic 5 Year Shelf Aging of UHMWPE
• Quantifying Changes in Object Control Skills in Young Children Following an Eight-Week Intervention

Requirements of Your Oral Presentation

• you provide background on the scientific problem,
• you present your solution to the problem,
• you indicate the statistical methods used to solve problem, and
• if time permits, describe the appropriateness of the model for analyzing your data.

• The American Statistical Association speaker information website (you won't need 100 handouts!!).
• R. E. Becker and S. Keller-McNulty (1996) Presentation Myths, The American Statistician, 112-115.
• D. H. Freeman, M. E. Gonzalez, D. C. Hoaglin, and B. A. Kilss (1983) Presentiing Statistical Papers, The American Statistician, 106-110.

Some Sample Oral Reports

• Factors Associated Olfactory Sensitivity of Bees by Geraldine Wright
• Analysis of Alpaca Fiber Data by Ying Luo and Kristen Swinton

Consulting Resources

• C. Chatfield (1995) Problem Solving: A Statistician's Guide, Chapman \& Hall, New York.
• Janice Derr (2000) Statistical Consulting: A Guide to Effective Communication, Duxbury Press, Pacific Grove, CA.
• ASA Statistical Consulting Section Newsletter
• Ethics in Science
  • ASA Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice (contains additional resources)
  • Dialogue on Science, Ethics & Religion, AAAS
  • Search for current ethical topics in the National Academies of Science Press
• American Statistical Association (ASA) Statistical Consulting Section