Statistical Support
The Statistical Support Core, part of the SON Office of Research and Innovation, provides statistical consultation and support to investigators at the SON. Team members include Dr. Mary-Lynn Brecht, Umme (Nipa) Warda, MSc, and Jesse Birchfield, advanced graduate student. These experienced statisticians can work with you as you design, implement, analyze, and report your research. Contact Dr. Brecht at lbrecht@sonnet.ucla.edu to set up an initial consultation for your statistical needs. Statistical services can be offered to SON faculty, researchers and doctoral students without fee to the extent that our statistical team members’ allocated time allows. *Extensive services (e.g. data management and statistical analysis on large projects) can be contracted with grant support.
Services we currently offer include:
- Assistance in developing research designs
- Developing statistical analysis plans for a proposal
- Assessing statistical needs (and budget) for a proposed project
- Sample size computations/power analysis
- Data management—e.g. developing data file formats and coding, merging data files from different instruments/sources/time points, “data cut” (i.e. bringing in data from acquisition sources), validity checking, scoring, recoding, computing new variables, or supervising a project-supported data management assistant*
- Consideration/suggestions for statistical analysis to match data characteristics and research questions
- Statistical analysis (wide range of methods)*
- Interpretation and presentation of results
- Assistance with Methods and Results sections of manuscripts
- Questions about statistical software use
- Workshops on specific design and statistical analysis methods
- Answering brief questions about, or guidance on, any of the above topics
A stat consulting clinic specifically for doctoral students is scheduled for most Wednesdays 12-2pm via Zoom during the academic year (email is sent to doctoral students each quarter with link for sign-ups).
| Priority Level | Services |
|---|---|
| 1 | services contracted for with grant funds (e.g. a specified % of Dr. Brecht’s or Ms. Warda’s time) • up to 10 total hours per project for SON intramural-funded projects (consultation, data management, statistical analysis, interpretation) |
| 2 | • proposal preparation (e.g. design & analysis development, sample size computations) • manuscript review & revision (e.g. focusing on description of statistical methods or presentation & interpretation of results • consultation on design, data, and analysis |
| 3 | data management and statistical analysis on small unfunded faculty projects |
Statistical Support Resources
Analysis Approaches/Statistical Tests