Statistics Advisory Service

The Statistics Advisory Service (SAS) provides help with any statistical problems that you might have with project work like final year projects, field study projects, research projects. This includes:

• experimental design
• guidance on the correct statistical test to use
• interpretation of results

We can also give help with statistical packages. To book an in-person or live online interactive session please read the below information first and then go to the Statistics Advisory Service appointment booking page. Please make sure you book the appropriate form of appointment for your needs, in-person and online appointments are available through the same calendar. Online appointments cannot be converted to in be in-person.

If you are a member of a BBA Final Year Project group you should ensure that you book an appointment in the BBA FYP calendar.

Who this service is for

This service is available to all members of the University undertaking project work.

This service is concerned with guiding and supporting learning and will not explicitly carry out statistical testing of data which forms part of any University assessments. If there are any units where there is a set examination or coursework rather than an individual or group project, you should seek help in a MASH Drop-in in the first instance.

Before you make a booking, consider whether or not:

• this is a small query that could be resolved by seeking help at an in-person or live online interactive MASH Drop-in
• you have thoroughly checked your lecture notes and relevant supporting material such as textbooks - we have a selection of statistical textbooks in the MASH in the Skills Zone and many more are available in the Library
• you have looked at our online resources - these include links to a range of tutorials (both text and videos) explaining basic statistical techniques and how to apply them

How to make a booking

When booking you should provide all information that you think will help our staff to prepare effectively for your session and you may attach files (some file types will need to be zipped). The service is confidential; your details are kept for our records and monitoring purposes of the service.

When booking a session:

• please ensure you book an in-person or live online interactive appointment as appropriate to your needs
• you will be asked to provide a summary of your problem, including the statistical software you plan to use (if relevant), so please be prepared for this
• include as much information as possible, the more information you give, the more you will get out of the session
• do not book more than one session at a time - we reserve the right to cancel multiple bookings, further bookings may be appropriate at later stages in your project but should be booked at that time

To book a live online interactive session please go to the Statistics Advisory Service appointment booking page.

Session locations

In-person appointments run in MASH in the Skills Zone. You should only book an in-person appointment if you can attend in-person. In some circumstances we may be able to offer an in-person appointment online but we cannot guarantee this. Remote appointments are live online interactive sessions using the Teams app if possible. If it is not possible to use Teams then a phone or email appointment can be arranged but this will be much less effective.

Preparing for the session

Remember that appointments are only 30 minutes in length. If you are well prepared you will be able to make the best use of this limited time.

It is important you:

• arrive in the room or the Teams meeting on time
• have all relevant material available – project specification, data sticks, textbooks, etc. as this will help us to make effective progress during the session

You should try to bring your laptop with you to an in-person appointment. Limited access to a computer in the room may be possible during the session if necessary but cannot be guaranteed. We recommend that live online interactive appointments are carried out on your laptop or other computer, not a mobile device. It will be difficult to share information such as SPSS output on a mobile device.