Although I appreciate where you are coming from, please
let me add the following. First, I do not charge for
my services... so there is nothing in this for me.
Second, just because a stat dept has a "consulting service"
for grad students does not testify to the quality of that
service. Let me explain. Most stat depts are heavy
on stats for the life sciences (biostatistics, etc.);
when a chemist or engineer approaches them for help then
the stat folks "see" the situation in terms of their own
background. In short, they tend to complicate rather
than simplify. This leaves the student befuddled in a
sea of statistical jargon. As I stated in my previous
note, I will not consult in the life sciences; I don't
have the knowledge or the background to do this.
What gives the biostats types (in stat depts) the
belief that they can make a positive contribution to
someone who is working in heat transfer, catalysis,
alloys, high-temperature properties of carbon; etc. ??
Darned if I know!! When I was in charge of an applied
statistics group at a major chemical company we learned
that (under the best of circumstances) a new person in
our group would need about 2 - 3 years of seasoning
before they could begin to work independently.
Exception: Only if they had sound training in chemistry
or physics or engineering could we reduce this lag
time... and even then (at best) 1 year.
Stat grad students "helping" other grad students?
I wonder?
Charlie Hendrix
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
In article <fCti4.2781$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
mackeral~[EMAIL PROTECTED] (J. Williams) wrote:
> If the agency plans the research, analyzes the data, and edits the
results,
> what does the student do? Why have a committee waste university time
if an
> agency is going to handle the tough chores? Back in the ice age when
I was a
> graduate student in Ann Arbor, the Ph.D. dissertation was expected to
be an
> original piece of research. The desired outcome was a scholar who
could do
> independent work that could stand up to peer review. Please let me
know if
> this is no longer the case. Most major research universities have
stat labs
> staffed to help doctoral candidates achieve the aforementioned
objectives.
> Also, usually the writing of the thesis is preceded by a research
proposal
> outling the future shape of the independent work. Would the agency
provide a
> proposal too? IMHO, the student after doing the research over
several years
> on one topic should know the details of the study better than the
committee
> members or anyone else. If a hired gun does the work, they know it,
but the
> studen/customer may have trouble explaining it later on at the oral
> examination or in the future after graduating. Maybe I am off base,
but I
> think when an outside agency for hire does all the work, attribution
is least
> of a committee chair's worries.
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (EAKIN MARK E) wrote:
> >
> >A graduate student showed me an email from a web-based service that
offers
> >to help graduate students plan their study, analyze the data, and
edit the
> >results. He was concerned about the ethics of using this service.
> >In my opinion, graduate students have always received this kind
> >of assistance from their committee members and fellow students. My
only
> >concern would be the amount of assistance provided and the inclusion
of
> >appropriate citation(s). But for me this leads to the question of
how much
> >is too much?
> >
> > Any comments?
> >
> >Mark Eakin
> >Associate Professor
> >Information Systems and Management Sciences Department
> >University of Texas at Arlington
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED] or
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
>
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