“I have been working on my MA thesis results with Udi Alter for a few months now and couldn’t express enough my gratitude for his help through this process. Udi and the Statistical Consulting Services (SCS) have been immensely helpful in teaching me to execute my own statistics and supporting me through my research questions. Udi has gone above and beyond to source materials, and to ensure he is providing me with the most accurate statistical advice. He has been professional, friendly, and a pleasure to work with and I look forward to consulting with him on additional projects moving forward. I believe the SCS is necessary for students like myself who do not have a strong foundation in statistics but are passionate about research and know that I will continue to use the service in the future.”
“A few months ago, I set up my first Statistical Consulting Service (SCS) appointment with Nataly Beribisky, as I needed guidance with analyses required for a study within my master’s thesis that were well beyond my expertise. Nataly is extremely knowledgable about the statistical analyses I am performing for my research, including ANCOVAs and regressions. Not to mention, she constantly goes above-and-beyond to support me. For example, Nataly generously offered to provide me regular assistance by setting up weekly meetings to discuss my analyses. In addition, she finds helpful resources and answers to my inquiries, outside of our meeting times. I am really thankful for Nataly’s willingness to help, time, and dedication. I would highly suggest SCS to those needing statistical support.”
“I feel very strongly that the completion and caliber of my graduate students’ work and the research produced by our lab would not have been possible without the expert support, teaching, and guidance provided by the Statistical Consulting Service (SCS) at York. We have consulted with the SCS for many, if not most, of our clinical research projects requiring complex statistical analyses that are beyond the scope of my experience. The SCS has always made themselves available, sometimes even on short notice, and they have always been immensely helpful and knowledgeable. My graduate students often report how, when meeting with the SCS, the consultant took time not only to support them in implementing the steps of the analysis, but also taught my students about the why of what was being done. This advanced my student’s knowledge greatly, as this applied learning opportunity goes well beyond what any of their statistical courses can offer. It also meant my students were better equipped to speak about and justify what they had done during their defense. Moreover, the SCS consultants have guided us using their knowledge of the literature and current advancements in statistical approaches, allowing us to utilize approaches we likely would not have known about otherwise. One of my closest collaborators has expressed ongoing challenges in securing and hiring a qualified statistician to support their research, a problem that has at times slowed down her progress with disseminating findings. My graduate students and I are deeply grateful for the SCS. Having access to such a service has advanced our research productivity and their learning. I am in strong support for increased funding in order to expand this vital service at York.”
“I am writing to describe how important the Statistical Consulting Service (SCS) has been to me and my students. I have consulted with the SCS on several occasions when developing new research projects that required statistical analyses that were beyond my ability at the time. I’ve always found the SCS accessible, knowledgeable, and helpful. In speaking with my colleagues at other Universities who must struggle to learn new statistical procedures on their own, I ‘ve come to realize just how uncommon and valuable the SCS is for enhancing the research productivity of York faculty. I know that my graduate students have also frequently reached out to the SCS for support, which they found immensely helpful. In fact, when recruiting top graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to York, the presence of the SCS is a real draw as applicants recognize the value of such a service for supporting their training and research. The SCS is also critical for increasing the feasibility of research proposals submitted to granting agencies. Finally, one of my graduate students who had an interest in quantitative methods provided consultation within the SCS, and in doing so, significantly enhanced his knowledge and skill in quantitative methods and teaching. In sum, I am very grateful for the SCS, and consider it to be a key factor in enhancing the research productivity and training of highly qualified personal at York University. I hope that its mandate can be enlarged and that it receives increased funding to expand its critical service to York University researchers.”
“Throughout my career, my students and I have relied on SCS (ISR) for their outstanding advice on design and statistical issues. While there are excellent research design courses as well as statistics courses provided for students in the Department of Psychology, there is very little available in terms of computer analyses and how to integrate them with research design. My students have benefitted immensely from face-to-face training by SCS staff, i.e. Mirka Ondrak, a valued and long-time staff member of SCS whose patience and knowledge have contributed greatly to my students’ research expertise as well as my own. And, over the past several years, my students have taken several small courses provided by SCS including courses on SPSS, R , and Qualitative Data Analysis, to name a few. One of my graduate students took SPIDA which was very beneficial for her research and also led to her taking other courses and seminars as well as reading extensively on data analysis. Thus, SCS has broadened the statistical knowledge and skills of my students through their many programs, seminars and workshops. I believe SCS is quite unique in that few other universities have a comparable program. Clearly, our faculty and students have benefited immensely from SCS.”
“Stephan Bonfield is an exceptional statistical consultant who goes above and beyond to help his clients. I needed help with a very complicated dataset and he was able to assist me in choosing the appropriate analysis. His knowledge and explanations helped me thoroughly understand this statistical method. I am incredibly impressed with the quality of service from SCS and I have recommended it to several of my colleagues. I strongly recommend these services for any researcher.”
“The Institute for Social Research’s statistical consulting service is extremely helpful to succeed in my current quantitative research method graduate level course. Especially, I regularly receive statistical consultation from Professor Naomi Martinez Gutierrez, and she has gone beyond and above her role of teaching and consultation in helping me how to use R. With her incredible support, I have learned the basics of R software. She has helped me to correctly measure my variables and how to use R and analyze my data. Without this consulting service and, especially, without Professor Naomi’s significant help and support, I would not succeed in my current graduate course although I have an excellent academic student record. I highly recommend the SRS consultation service for other students, and York University must support and keep the statistical consulting service accessible to students.”