Statistical Consulting Services

Statistical consulting services for current VCU faculty, staff, and students are provided by appointment by graduate students and faculty from VCU Statistical Sciences & Operations Research.    

• Two Levels of Consulting Services
  • Free Services
  • Fee-Based Services
• Consulting Appointments
• What We Can’t Do
• Co-Authorship and Acknowledgement
• Statistical & Research Resources
  • Software at VCU
  • Working with Sensitive Data
  • VCU Resources for Researchers
    
  • Other Resources

Two Levels of Consulting Services Are Provided:

Free Services

Fee-Based Services

Consulting Appointments:

• To request consulting services, please email statconsult@vcu.edu.
• Appointments may be made for times outside the walk-in schedule.
• Consultation often requires multiple appointments.
• Appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• During peak times, it may take 1-3 weeks to get an appointment.

What We Can’t Do:

• Do Your Homework For You
  Please see your professor or TA for coursework help.
   
• Turn Back the Clock
  • Data analysis often takes longer than people often plan for. 
  • To ensure you meet your deadlines, start early, and set aside sufficient time to prepare your grant request or analyze your data.

Co-Authorship and Acknowledgement:

If the Statistical Consultant contributes in any substantial way to a publication, with advice, planning, or analysis, then he or she is entitled to be a co‐author (if their material is being used). In that case, the statistical consultant also has a responsibility for the publication as a whole, as outlined in the JAMA criteria.

Otherwise, a statement of acknowledgment similar to the following may be appropriate:   

"The Statistical Consulting Service at Virginia Commonwealth University and in particular [name the consultant] assisted with the design and analysis of this experiment [or study or project]."

Articles: Please send copies of all articles that recognize the Statistical Consulting Service at Virginia Commonwealth University to statconsult@vcu.edu

Statistical & Research Resources

• Software at VCU
  • JMP
  • R
  • REDCap - secured web surveys and data collection forms
  • SAS
  • SPSS
  • Other Software
• Working with Sensitive Data
  
  • When working with sensitive data, it is your responsibility to ensure that the data is secured during collection, transmission, and storage.  
    VCU Encryption Security Standard - sections III-V
  • Research Data Security Overview   
  • What is sensitive data?
    VCU Data Classification Standard
  • How do I collect and store sensitive data?
    • Unless stored on University centrally managed or comparable network storage devices, all Category I data must be encrypted when stored in electronic format.
    • Secured central storage for sensitive research data is available on:
      • Koti
    • All fixed storage devices on University-owned laptop computers must be encrypted with the VCU enterprise encryption solution.
    • REDCap provides secured web data collection forms and secured web surveys
    • See VCU Encryption Security Standard - section IV
  • How can I safely transmit sensitive data?
    • By email: Use Zixmail Secure Email
    • For file transfers:  Establish a VPN connection and then use an SFTP program such as SFTP or Filezilla
    • Securing mobile devices
    • See VCU Encryption Security Standard - section V
  • VCU Office of Research
    • Policies and Guidance (Includes HPPAA Guidance)
    • Research Data Ownership, Retention and Access
  • CITI Training
  • NIH: Protecting Personal Health Information in Research:
    Understanding the HIPAA Privacy Rule
• VCU Resources for Researchers
  • VCU Biostatistical Consulting Lab
  • VCU Center for Biological Complexity
  • VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research
    • Bioinformatics Core
    • Research Incubator
  • VCU Office of Research
  • VCU SERL- Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory
  • Technology Services Research Servers
    • App2Go - Windows server with research applications
    • Unix servers for research 
• Other Resources
  • IASRI - Design of Experiments
  • UCLA - Stat Portal
  • UCLA - What statistical analysis should I use?
  • Virginia Public Health Information - Statistics & Surveillance