The Dissertation Statistics Consultant Blog

My Proposal has been accepted, can you analyze my results?

Steve Creech — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:09:22 +0000

Probably, but many doctoral students do not have an “actual statistician” on their committee. The methodologist on your committee surely has more experience with statistics than your other committee members, but that is very different than having someone with an advanced degree in statistics and 14 years or more of experience as a statistical consultant on your committee. The point is, I have seen many committee-approved dissertation proposals that have research questions that do not lend themselves well to statistical analysis.

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I Tried to Analyze my Data Myself, Can You Review my Results?

Steve Creech — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:35:44 +0000

I have had a number of doctoral students call me with a question something like this: I purchased the student version of SPSS. I was able to calculate the mean and the frequency and percent for my variables, and I even tried to compare my independent and dependent variables with an ANOVA, but I don’t know if I did it right. Would you please review my work and see if I did it right?

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Testimonials From Past Clients

Steve Creech — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:33:56 +0000

Past clients who have something they would like to share with others about their experiences working with me…

Were You Advised to Hire a Statistician?

Steve Creech — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:25:23 +0000

Many of my clients have reported to me that their advisor recommended they hire a statistician to help with their dissertation. I am curious to know how many of you out there have had this happen. In my view, statistical consulting benefits both the doctoral student and the mentor. Often times the mentor has limited experience with statistics.

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How Did you First Go About Handling Your Statistics?

Steve Creech — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:22:42 +0000

Once you got more heavily into the statistical aspects of your study (e.g. development of your methods chapter), what was the first thing you did? Many of my clients have told me they didn’t even know statisticians existed. They came to me only after many rewrites as a result of criticisms from their committee regarding their statistical considerations. I also have heard comments from clients that they had a statistics class or two several years ago and since have forgotten everything.

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When Did Statistics Start to Become an Issue For You?

Steve Creech — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:21:09 +0000

At what point during the development of your dissertation did you begin to struggle with statistics? In my view, statistical considerations come into play almost as soon as you have developed a topic. For all practical purposes, a statistical consultant is probably not necessary until you have spent time developing the topic and doing some literature review.

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How Does Statistical Consulting Work?

Steve Creech — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:13:43 +0000

I have helped hundreds of doctoral students in developing their research questions, hypotheses, survey design, data analysis plan, power analysis and sample size justification, and performing the statistical analysis of their data.

My clients receive a clearly written report that demonstrates how to interpret and report the results “AND” they receive unlimited email and phone support to answer any questions they might have, to ensure that they completely understand their statistics.

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Choosing a Statistical Consultant

Steve Creech — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:39:27 +0000

In choosing a statistical consultant, ask yourself the following questions:

1) Does my consultant have a graduate degree in statistics?

2) Is statistical consulting for doctoral students their fulltime job, or is this something they do in the evenings and the weekends when they have time?

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Is Dissertation Statistics Consulting Ethical?

Steve Creech — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:59:57 +0000

When I am asked this question, I like to respond with the following analogy. Surgeons do not usually perform their own anesthesia, because anesthesia is a highly technical and specialized field, and the surgeon would prefer to leave that to an expert. By analogy, most researchers do not perform their own statistical analyses, because statistics is a highly technical and specialized field, and they would prefer to leave the statistics to an expert. So, if writing a dissertation is about learning how to do research, then by working with a statistician, you are gaining real-world experience in how to do research. (more…)