P.Mean: Hire me as a consultant (created 2008-07-15)

Starting on July 15, 2008, I am available for statistical consulting. I have a PhD in Statistics, thirty years of experience, and many satisfied customers. In the past, I have undertaken independent consulting assignments using my evenings and weekends, but there was not enough time in the week to handle this and keep up with my six year old boy. I am now available full time and can provide you with help on your toughest statistical problems.

Rates

It's a bad idea to list rates on a webpage because it will scare people away. I charge 175 or 250 U.S. dollars per hour of consulting. The higher rate is reserved for projects that involve travel or projects that are proprietary (e.g., involve military or trade secrets). Here's what I can do to avoid a bit of the sticker shock.

1. Offer the first hour for free in any consulting project. I've always done this, and I like this policy as it allows you to explore what services I can provide at no risk. It also helps me to understand the scope of the problem so that I can estimate the total amount of time required.
2. Place an upper limit on the hours worked in any consulting project. Once I understand your problem, I will tell you the maximum number of hours that the project will require. If it requires more hours, I will provide those at no cost. If I work less hours than the maximum, you pay less.
3. Offer special discounts for specific projects. If you are a graduate student working on a thesis or dissertation, I will provide consulting for $75 less than my normal consulting rate because I remember what it was like to be a poor struggling graduate student.
4. Review the going rates for statistical consultants. A report in the Spring 2006 issue of The Statistical Consultant reports a salary survey for statistical consultants. They noted that "the median hourly rate charged for external clients is $130 with an inter quartile range of $89 - $189" and "Ph.D.'s charge on average $44 more per hour than those with a Master's degree across all types of tasks." Prices, undoubtedly, have gone up since 2006.

What can I help with?

Statistical consulting usually covers four stages of research, the initial planning stage, the data collection stage, the data analysis stage, and the reporting stage. I also have expertise in Evidence Based Health Care and in research ethics. Here's a list (though not an exhaustive list) of the ways I can help.

Initial planning.

• defining an appropriate research hypothesis,
• developing a plan for early stopping of a trial,
• selecting an appropriate sample size,
• submitting a protocol for ethical review,
• preparing randomization tables,

Data collection.

• selecting an appropriate system for data entry,
• monitoring accrual rates to keep project on time,
• evaluating conditions that might call for early termination.

Data analysis.

• choosing software appropriate for your analysis needs,
• screening data for obvious errors,
• producing simple descriptive statistics,
• assessing reliability and validity,
• fitting a linear, logistic, or Poisson regression model,
• analyzing time-to-event data (survival curves).

Reporting.

• documenting the statistical methods used in the data analysis,
• producing graphs and tables that are easily comprehended,
• preparing bibliographic entries relevant to the statistical analysis.

Evidence Based Health Care.

• preparing a critical review of a research article.

Research ethics.

• outlining the limitations on the use of randomization, blinding, and placebos.

How much time will this take?

Every consulting problem is different, so it is impossible to estimate the amount of time needed without first having a conversation with you. If you need me to do the data analysis, you should plan on a minimum of 20 hours of effort for anything serious. If you can do your own data analysis, you may be able to save substantially on the amount of consulting time that you have to pay for.

I normally use the first free hour of a consultation to establish the scope of the problem and estimate the time requirements. So if you want see if your budget will allow for a decent consultation, let's find the time for a face-to-face or telephone conversation to discuss your work in detail.

Do I have a standard contract template that I use?

I don't use contracts, unless I am required to do so by you or your lawyers. I'm happy to sign any reasonable contract that you may draft, of course, but I do not feel the need to have a contract to protect myself. If you are unhappy at any point during our consultation, I'll do whatever needs to be done to fix things. If I can't fix things to your satisfaction, I don't want any money from you and I won't charge you anything for my time.

Are you interested in a short course or seminar?

I have developed a whole series of classes about data analysis, research design, evidence-based medicine, and research ethics that I can teach for a small fee. I am also hoping to develop some web seminars on these topics.

Interested?

If you want to explore the possibility of consulting, send me an email at

If you prefer to discuss this by phone (or in person for anyone in the Kansas City area), please include contact information in your email.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. This page was written by Steve Simon and was last modified on 2010-11-12. Need more information? I have a page with general help resources. You can also browse for pages similar to this one at Category: Professional details.