CALS Statistical Consulting

CALS Statistical Consulting provides free statistical collaboration services to faculty, staff and student researchers within CALS who are looking for assistance with work to be published, doctoral dissertations, Master’s theses and more. A doctoral statistician will work cooperatively with you to ensure the appropriate statistical treatment of your research question.

Please note that CALS Statistical Consulting services are not intended for homework assistance, comprehensive exams, course projects or code debugging.

• Design and Planning of Experiments
  
• Analysis of Experiments
  
• Statistical Writing and Review
  
• Data Visualization
  
• Implementation and Discussion of Methods from Published Results
  
• Much more!

Before scheduling an appointment, please complete the initial questionnaire below. This information is important for accurate record keeping, and can provide valuable insight into your project before the initial meeting.

Once you’ve completed the questionnaire, email: [email protected] to set up an appointment. In your email, please provide at least 3 times that can accommodate a 1 hour initial meeting.

Acknowledgements and Co-Authorship

CALS Statistical Consulting encourages adherence to the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT) when determining the acknowledgements or co-authorship for a collaboration with CALS statistical consultants. A general question that can be considered is, “would the work have been presented as it is in its final form without collaboration with the consultant?” In cases where a consultant is conducting analysis and providing reports, code, etc. the answer to this question is almost always no. In that case, the consultant likely played a substantial intellectual role and should be considered for co-authorship, not just acknowledged. The standing assumption of CALS Statistical Consulting is that collaborators will be acting in accordance with standard practices related to the integrity of academic research. For questions or concerns about this policy, please email [email protected].

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Generally, collaborating with CALS Statistical Consulting goes as follows:

1. You complete the initial questionnaire.
2. You email [email protected] with at least 3 times that can accommodate a 1-hour initial meeting.
3. CALS Statistical Consulting will respond with a calendar invite for the meeting or communicate to find an available time (if none of the provided times are available).
4. You meet with the consultant to discuss your research needs and what you desire from the collaboration.
5. Directly after the meeting, your consultant will send a follow-up email to confirm what was discussed in the initial meeting.
6. Updates and results will be shared by the consultant based on the agreed-upon timelines.
7. Upon receiving results, you are free to schedule follow-up meeting(s), ask questions via email, etc.
8. When the collaboration has concluded, you will receive a 5-question survey to provide feedback about your experience.

What to expect in an initial meeting

An initial meeting will look different depending on your needs. In many cases, the initial meeting acts as an information gathering session for the consultant. You will discuss experimental design, research questions, data methodology, types of data, analysis goals, etc. In other instances, the initial meeting may consist of discussion about an analysis already performed, how to address reviewer/committee concerns, etc. Live production or alteration of chunks of code or exact recommendations for complex data analysis tasks are not to be expected in an initial meeting.

How to prepare for an initial meeting

If you will be discussing an experiment, be prepared to talk (in specifics) about the experimental design. Plot plans and sketches of the experimental layout are highly encouraged. If goals for your research have been specifically outlined by a funding agency, grant requirements, etc., be sure to have those goals available. 

If you will be discussing analysis, output, etc., be prepared to talk (in specifics) about how the analysis/output was generated. Ensure that you can easily access and navigate to relevant files. Have any code (R, SAS, Python, etc.) neatly organized and executed beforehand.

Generally, just be well prepared to discuss your research! It may help to have a set of directed questions you wish to talk about. Please do not send large collections of uncontextualized files (code, papers, results, etc.) before the meeting.

Communication Policy

All communication about collaborations should be done with [email protected]. Please avoid using the personal emails of consultants. CALS Statistical Consulting is often dealing with multiple concurrent projects, therefore, timely responses to communications are paramount. With few exceptions, communications from CALS Statistical Consulting should be responded to within 7 days of receipt. If too long a period has passed without response, you may be required to make an additional initial meeting.

Deadline Policy

It is important to schedule initial meetings well in advance of any personal deadlines. Deadlines within 1 week of initial questionnaire submission are considered unreasonable. CALS Statistical Consulting will always strive to accommodate your timeline, but there can be no guarantees. A good rule of thumb is not expect anything within one week of sharing your data.

Cancellation Policy

If you need to cancel or reschedule your meeting, please attempt to do so at least 24 hours in advance.

Acknowledgement and Co-Authorship Policy

The policy can be found here. The policy must be read and agreed to as part of the initial questionnaire.

Grant Collaboration

The preferred way to go about collaboration on grants is to include the consultant as a Co-PI with a budget for a graduate student or postdoc that will be brought in to work under the supervision of the consultant. In situations that require less involvement, please feel free to discuss other options in the initial meeting.

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