About
STAT 580 (2 credits) and STAT 581 (1 credit) are two separate courses that are taken one after the other; STAT 580 one semester followed by STAT 581 a subsequent semester. Students enroll in the online courses at the end of their program of study. (Online sections of STAT 580 and STAT 581 are for World Campus Master of Applied Statistics students only).
The overall objectives of STAT 580 / STAT 581 statistical consulting practicum is:
- to provide statistics students with practical consulting and communication skills, such as how to present results verbally and in a written report, and
- how to work cooperatively with other researchers.
Course Topics
STAT 580 is a course in applied statistics, providing training in statistical consulting. Applications of commonly encountered statistical methods are explored in the consulting environment. Written and oral communication skills are emphasized, and ethical aspects of consulting are introduced. STAT 580 provides students with an opportunity to gain practical experience in consulting through various projects with clients, some through the Statistical Consulting Center.
Tentative course topics for STAT 580 may include:
- About Consulting
- Communication
- Asking Questions
- Managing a Session
- Dealing with Difficult Clients
- Consulting from Start to Finish
- Technical Aspects of Consulting
- Designed Experiments and Sampling
- Observational Studies
- Survey Studies
- Mixed Models with SAS Proc Mixed
- Categorical Data Analysis Power Analysis
- Non-Parametric Statistics
- Missing data
- Sampling
Software
In STAT 580 SAS is the software that shall be used for all in-class demonstrations of statistical analyses, assignments, and projects. You will need to have access to your own copy of SAS, (SAS 9.1.3, SAS 9.2 or SAS 9.3) Please make sure that you visit Statistical Software page for the latest information about SAS.
Textbook
No required texts for this class.
Assessment Plan
STAT 580 (2 credits)
You will receive grades on written assignments and draft and final versions of your reports for clients. Client reports and other assignments will be graded with respect to Process, Communication Skills, and Technical Accuracy:
- Process: Following course guidelines (e.g., completeness of process ) and displaying responsible/professional behaviors.
- Communication: Quality of written work, including demonstration of a solid understanding of the client’s question, absence of spelling and grammatical errors, and clear presentation of statistical concepts using easy to understand narrative and non-jargon term.
- Technical Accuracy: Appropriateness of methods proposed given the client’s statistical background and data.
Prerequisites
STAT 502, STAT 505 or STAT 508, one course of STAT 503, 504, 506, 507, 509. 510. (Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in this practicum sequence at the last two semesters of their program of study.)