james.surles@ttu.edu
(806) 834-4729

Services

The services provided by the SCL will cover the entire range of consulting activities and include:
  • Experimental design (how to collect the data)
  • Statistical computing (how to manage the data)
  • Statistical inference (how to interpret the data)
  • Written and/or oral communication of the recommendations and/or results
Although we welcome clients at any stage of their research, it is recommended that prospective clients contact the SCL at an early stage, preferably before data are collected. This may lead to a reduction in the cost of the experiment and a more efficient analysis of the data.

Note: We will not help students with homework or other course work unless it is approved by the instructor of the course.

Larger Projects
Clients that are involved in larger projects, for instance projects funded by research agencies, may contemplate making the SCL part of their research team. In that case, the client can charge the SCL with the planning and execution of the statistical analyses as well as meeting with and reporting to the funding agency.

Costs

The first meeting with a client will incur a minimal cost of $5. Subsequent meetings will be at a negotiable rate that depends on the type of services required. Payment is expected by check or cash at the time of the meeting.

When the SCL is not asked to perform data analysis or data collection, the cost will generally be $25 for the subsequent meetings. In this case, the SCL can provide the client with assistance in the experimental design, advisement on the proper analysis of the data, instruction on conducting the analysis using any number of statistical software packages, advisement on proper interpretation of the analysis, advisement on the effective communication of the conclusions, as well as reading the client's written conclusions to assure validity.

Services that would incur a higher rate (greater than $25 per meeting) include, but are not limited to, data collection or input, data analysis, and providing written conclusions for the client.

The First Meeting

In most cases, the first meeting with a client can be scheduled very shortly after the client first contacts the SCL. It will be most helpful if the client can provide the following:
  • A careful description of the experimental context and setting
  • A formulation of the research questions to be considered
If data have already been collected, it will also be very important to
  • Provide insight into the sampling technique
  • Submit an electronic copy of the data in a common format
It would be most helpful if the following form is filled out and brought to the first meeting or sent via email or fax before the first meeting: Contact Form (MS Word) (PDF).