Consulting
Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research Support Center
Introduction
The Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research Support Center offers comprehensive epidemiological and statistical consultation and computational services to faculty, staff, and students in the University of Florida's College of Public Health and Health Professions and in the University's Health Sciences Center. The Center's personnel are available for discussion at all stages of research, including preparation of grants and contracts, assistance in analyzing and presenting research data, and statistical review of manuscripts in the publication process.
The Center has access to a broad range of computer hardware, software and personnel with expertise in using major epidemiological, statistical, graphics, and data management packages. While our primary interest is in assuring appropriate use of epidemiological and statistical methodology in research, the Center offers a complete range of services from database development, implementation, and maintenance to production of publication quality graphic and tabular material to support the presentation and publication of research results. Obtaining epidemiological and/or biostatistical advice early on in a project can often improve the chances of the study meeting its objectives.
Personnel
The Center is directed by Linda J. Young, Ph.D., of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Health Professions of the University of Florida. Dr. Young is also the Director of Biostatistics. Dr. Young supervises small statistical consulting activities. Other departmental faculty participate in larger projects. Faculty members providing this service cover a wider range of interests and statistical expertise and have consulting experience in a variety of subject matter areas. Departmental staff members and graduate students contribute substantially to this activity by providing direct statistical and computational assistance. Other personnel in the Center include data entry technicians, data managers, and statistical programmer/analysts in the Department of Biostatistics.
Project Initiation
Investigators interested in initiating a research project are encouraged to set up a meeting with a member of the Center. Before the meeting, it is recommended that the investigator provide a brief summary of the objectives and study design. The purpose of the meeting will be to review the research needs and study design issues, to estimate workload, and to plan a realistic timetable. No work can begin until a project intiation form has been completed; this includes out cost estimate, a University of Florida account number to be billed, and the signature of a person authorized to expend funds from the account. (Projects external to the University of Florida must provide other acceptable billing information.) Initial cost estimates established after the initial meeting will not be exceeded without prior notification and approval.
Theses, dissertations, and other student research projects often involve a substantial statistical component that may require supervision or direct assistance from the BCC. If a student needs such supervision, it may be desirable for a Center faculty member to be on the student's research committee. In any case, the student's research advisor must be present at the initial consultation session. We expect the graduate students will have made sufficient effort to understand the basic concepts of statistics. A reasonable background can be achieved by taking selected departmental course offerings in statistical methodology.
Authorship Policy
Co-authorship on scientific journal articles is generally expected on studies where substantive input on design and/or analysis is provided. It is our policy not to forgo funding in return for co-authorship. An individual statistician may, at his/her discretion, donate time to co-author an unfunded manuscript if it does not interfere with other funded projects.
Center Services and Rates
| Fee Schedule for the Center | |
| Type of service | Fee per hour |
| Research Design
and Statistical Consulting: Study design and methods, power and sample size calculations, data analysis, write-ups of statistical analyses for inclusion into reports. |
$125.00 |
| Programming: SAS, SPSS programming for data analysis, conversion of databases to SAS or SPSS. |
$80.00 |
| Data Management: Database creation, management and cleaning, data scanning, web-based data entry. |
$80.00 |
| Data Entry: Manual entry of data in databases. |
$35.00 |
Contact the Center
You may contact Linda J. Young at the Center by emailing or you can set appointments by calling (352) 273-6364.
