Statistical Consulting Center

The Statistical Consulting Center (SCC) offers statistical consulting to Duke University faculty, students and staff on research involving statistical methods.

Overview

The SCC is operated in conjunction with a course in statistical consulting offered both during the Fall and Spring semesters by the Department of Statistical Science to its undergraduate majors. We focus on inquiries of a methodological nature that are at an appropriate level for the class and use these as case studies in the class. Given the structure of our service, there are a limited number of requests that we can handle during each semester and currently we do not operate during the summer months.

Details

We usually take a week of class time to discuss a client's questions and return a written report describing our recommendations several weeks later, though many questions are answered during our meeting. For this we ask that our clients present their request during class. These presentations are informal and usually consist of a few slides (plots, diagrams, pictures, etc.) providing background and context for the request, describing the relevant data and detailing the specific questions being asked of us. However, off-campus clients have occasionally presented remotely. Finally, our knowledge of the software universe is limited (mostly to 'R') and the time we have to commit to a given project is also limited and, for this reason, we usually do not engage in data analysis in support of a client request. 

Scheduling

Simply send email to stat-scc@duke.edu with a description of your problem and we will get back to you as quickly as we can (usually within a few days) with our availability.

Compensation

Normally the SCC and its consultants do not receive compensation for consulting. However, if your consultation with us results in an intellectual contribution to a research paper, then acknowledgement or co-authorship would be warranted.