Statistical consulting services are offered jointly by the University, supported by the School of Mathematics and Statistics and the Research Office.
Our statistical consulting services are available for postgraduate students, academic and professional staff within Victoria University and currently on a limited basis to external private and governmental organisations.
The service aims to enhance the university research environment by offering quality statistical advice for research projects, to provide interdisciplinary research and collaboration opportunities for students from all Schools and to develop collaborations with external organisations through consulting work.
Clients are encouraged to contact the service at an early stage of their project, to help ensure that the planned procedures and study size will be appropriate for the proposed work. The consultant may also suggest ways to maximise available resources through the use of efficient study designs and appropriate data management techniques.
The initial meeting is a chance for the consultant to become familiar with the research project, and to offer an outline of the course of action and an estimate of the time and cost involved for the work. It is essential to provide as much information as possible about the research project at this meeting.
Information you should bring includes a written summary of the project with a clear articulation of the research question, a description of the proposed methodology and a copy of the research proposal, where available.
For clients wanting advice for statistical analysis of existing data, the data file and a description of the data is helpful.
The initial and two follow-up consultations are offered to Victoria University staff and postgraduate students free of charge.
For longer-term services or more substantial projects, a fee may be required, typically charged to an internal or external research grant. This may be waived where joint publication is anticipated.
Students wanting assistance with their thesis or dissertation should first obtain the approval of their supervisor before requesting consultancy services.
Clients from private or governmental organisations normally have access to a range of statistical consultancy services at competitive rates. However, pending appointment of a new permanent consultant, the School is not currently able to offer this service unless the work is likely to lead to publishable research, in which case an academic statistician in the School may agree to take on the contract.
Lisa Woods is the acting statistical consultant pending appointment of a replacement for Dr Dalice Sim who has taken up another position. Lisa has recently submitted her PhD thesis on "Bayesian estimation of a phenotype network structure using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo ”. She has a wide knowledge of important statistical techniques, as well as access to statistics colleagues in the School for more specialised problems.
For clients based at the Pipitea Campus, a clinic is held at Rutherford House as well.