New Statistical and Measurement Support Services Offers Consulting Aid to COEHP

Shannon Magsam

Aaron Myers works with grad student Kati Street on research for her dissertation.

The Educational Statistics and Research Methods Program in the College of Education and Health Professions launched a new Statistical and Measurement Support Services this semester to enhance faculty, staff and student research projects.

The support services are dedicated to promoting high-quality research within the college, said Allison Ames Boykin, an assistant professor in Educational Statistics and Research Methods. Senior graduate students and faculty from the program provide research and statistical and measurement assistance at no charge. The program supports researchers throughout the life of a project, including study design, data collection procedures, analysis and interpretation of results.

"SMSS consultant Aaron was very knowledgeable and encouraging," said Margaret Hindman, a senior doctoral student in the Diversity Multicultural Center and an early client. "He helped make a plan for my software code, discussed the analysis and shared resources with me. I feel more confident approaching the statistical software coding for my dissertation."

Hindman said the experience has spurred further research.

"It's wonderful to have a free service on campus that may assist with any stage of research," she said. "I feel more confident engaging in future research projects knowing that there is this support."

Christine Holyfield, assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders in the college, sought research support through the program after being unsure about an analysis.

"I completed [the analysis] on a project that, methodologically, was outside of my typical research repertoire," she said. "During the SMSS consultation, the graduate student consultant shared a more appropriate analytical test for my data and an article justifying its appropriateness, demonstrated the correct statistical analysis code, and discussed with me how best to report the results of the new analysis."

Holyfield said after the consultation she was able to revise her results to include the more rigorous statistical methodology.

"I feel much more confident submitting the paper for peer review and dissemination to the field," she said, adding, "In the future, I hope to use the SMSS earlier in the research project process in order to strengthen my study designs to best support statistical analysis."

Aaron Myers, the lead consultant for Statistical and Measurement Support Services, is a graduate student in the Educational Statistics and Research Methods Program. Serving as a consultant gives him the opportunity to work with varied data types, statistical analyses and research scenarios.

Each graduate student who consults with researchers gains practical consulting experience, an important skill to have on the job market, Boykin said. They also learn about empirical research being conducted on campus and to work with real data.

"The skill of communicating about statistics and measurement to a general audience is one that will be useful throughout their career," she said.

ESRM graduate students will continue to staff the COEHP statistics lab, providing support for coursework. Statistical and Measurement Support Services is an additional resource for the college, expanding the offerings to research-related activities.