Statistical Consulting

Uitgebreide vaknaam	Statistical Consulting
Leerdoelen	The aim of the course is: • To develop consultancy skills. The student is able to: 1. Deconstruct the client’s research question in answerable subquestions and adjust these questions given the available/feasible study design. 2. Perform suitable exploratory data analysis to validate the quality of the data and to get an insight in the possible direction of the answer(s) to the original question(s). 3. Apply appropriate formal data analysis procedures and formulate an evidenced based conclusion. 4. Critically discuss the conclusion, pointing out possible pitfalls. 5. Communicate effectively the analysis and conclusions to the client by means of a report and a presentation.
Omschrijving	All but deductive questions require data for an informed answer. Whether it is about proving the existence of a boson particle or under what circumstances induced births present a risk to mother and child, all of these questions require obtaining data and careful inductive reasoning on these data to formulate an answer. Part of the work of a statistician is to help other researchers and managers in all of the stages of this process, which is called consulting. Statistical consultation may involve brief interactions to respond to very specific technical questions of a single client, or long term associations as a member of research projects. In its most extended form, it starts by analysing the (research) question. Is the question meaningful? What subquestions are there? What is the population on which these questions are defined? Then, possibly, the consultant will help in designing a study to collect data that will help to answer that question. Subsequently, it means finding the appropriate statistical procedure(s) that can provide an appropriate answer to the client's research question, within all practical constraints. The process needs to occur in open communication with the client and the statistician should be able to communicate the various stages of the analysis to the client effectively. The goal of this course is to develop some consultancy skills, such as how to effectively communicate with researchers and practitioners and performing meaningful analyses. Emphasis will be given to issues of recognizing the client's problem, dealing with assumptions, finding appropriate data analysis options and correct statistics, within a consultation setting. Each student will practice in a case study with an actual client.
Uren per week
Onderwijsvorm	Hoorcollege (LC), Opdracht (ASM), Practisch werk (PRC), Werkcollege (T) (Client Meetings are part of the assignment and during the tutorials student give presentations)
Toetsvorm	Presentatie (P), Verslag (R) (The final grade (FG) is determined as follows: FG = 0.7 x Report + 0.3 x Presentation)
Vaksoort	master
Coördinator	dr. W.P. Krijnen
Docent(en)	D. Basu, PhD. ,dr. W.P. Krijnen
Verplichte literatuur	Titel Auteur ISBN Prijs Material will be provided by the teaching staff
Entreevoorwaarden	Prior knowledge of subjects from the BSc courses Statistics and Statistical Modeling/Generalized Linear Models is needed.
Opmerkingen
Opgenomen in	Opleiding Jaar Periode Type MSc Courses for Exchange Students: Mathematics 19-20 - semester II b MSc Mathematics: Science, Business and Policy  (Science, Business and Policy: Statistics and Big Data) - semester II b keuzegroep MSc Mathematics: Statistics and Big Data  (MSc Mathematics: Statistics and Big Data) - semester II b keuzegroep