Research

Biostatistics Consulting Service (BCS)


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Introduction

The Biostatistics Consulting Service (BCS) offers comprehensive statistical consulting and data analysis services to the faculty, staff, and students of the College of Public Health, and those throughout the University of Georgia involved in public health and biomedical research. Our objectives are to enhance the quality of research proposals and papers through improved study design and the appropriate use of state-of-the art statistical methods, and to promote collaborative research between biostatisticians and faculty in public health and biomedicine leading to the development of new and innovative statistical procedures.

Faculty are encouraged to seek statistical consultation when writing grants for extramural funding. The BCS will assist in study design and proposal writing when BCS faculty are identified as co-investigators, or appropriate funding for the BCS is included in the budget. Advice regarding study design includes specification of methods for selected study subjects, allocation of study subjects to experimental treatments, preliminary methods for statistical analyses, and determination of sample sizes required to detect desired effects. Analysis of preliminary data may also be included. BCS faculty should be included as coinvestigators when it is determined that new and innovative statistical methods are required for the analysis of the resulting data.

Personnel

The BCS is directed by Stephen Rathbun PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, and is staffed by Woncheol Jang PhD, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Xiao Song PhD, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, and Jason Kao MS, a PhD student from the Department of Statistics at the University of Georgia. Consulting is primarily done by BCS faculty, with the assistance of BCS graduate assistants. Routine statistical analyses are carried out by BCS graduate assistants under the direction of BCS faculty. When appropriate, the BCS may refer projects to interested faculty from the Department of Statistics.

Consulting Services

Free advice is available to faculty and staff during proposal writing provided that the BCS is budgeted and/or BCS faculty are included as co-investigators in the proposal. Free advice is also available to faculty, staff and students through scheduled one-hour appointments. Inquiries are welcome at any stage of a study, but consultation during the planning stage is recommended. Such advice may include:

  • assistance in the design of public health surveys and biomedical experiments including power analysis;
  • advice on data visualization and presentation;
  • assistance with the selection and application of statistical methods;
  • assistance with the use of statistical software such as SAS, SPSS, and R.
More substantive assistance to faculty and staff may also be received for funded projects. Such assistance may include

  • statistical data analysis and data interpretation;
  • data entry and validation;
  • data management and data quality assurance;
  • written reports of statistical methods and results.

Faculty and staff seeking substantive statistical assistance should fill out a project description form, briefly describing the scientific problem to be investigated, the study design, and the specific scientific aims of the research.

The BCS encourages collaborative research between BCS faculty and faculty in public health and the biomedical sciences. Depending on the nature of the scientific problems, and the nature of the required statistical solutions, the BCS can assist in referral to BCS or statistics faculty with appropriate research interests. Funding for such collaborative efforts is at the discretion of the biostatistician, but it is expected that such collaborations may lead to joint research proposals.

Theses, dissertations, and other student research projects may involve substantial statistical issues that may benefit from BCS services. In such cases, the student should include either a biostatistician or statistician on his/her committee. If a student seeks advice from the BCS, the student's advisor should be present at the initial consultation session. Substantive assistance may be provided by BCS graduate assistants free of charge provided that this does not interfere with funded projects supporting those assistants.

Authorship Policy

Co-authorship on scientific articles is expected when substantive assistance is provided regarding study design and/or statistical analysis.

Contact

Faculty, staff and students seeking advice from the BCS should contact Stephen Rathbun at rathbun@uga.edu or (706) 542-6302. Email contacts should include specific information regarding the statistical questions that need to be addressed, and should suggest times for initial meetings. Afternoon appointments are preferred.