Methods and stats support

I offer two ways of getting help with research methods and quantitative data analysis: standing office hours at your institution for departments without a dedicated methods specialist, and one-off consulting for individual researchers or projects. While I’d gladly discuss technical details involving statistical techniques and software, I may be of particular help already at an earlier stage in the research process: clarifying research questions, assessing study designs, figuring out what kinds of conclusions the resulting data will be able to support, and generally asking pesky questions and helping to resolve them. The difference between both offers is mainly whether you’re looking for an ongoing arrangement from which the whole department may profit or help with a particular study. Details and rates for each are below.

I also offer one- and multi-day courses on quantitative methods and data analysis geared principally towards Master’s and Ph.D. students; see the Courses for further information.

Departmental office hours

Departments with no dedicated methods specialist may find that researchers repeatedly run into similar difficulties: formulating answerable questions, assessing whether a design supports a particular claim, tailoring a model to a question and interpreting its output, or communicating uncertainty while highlighting important trends. I’d be happy to set up shop at your institution and organise regular office hours (e.g., one afternoon every fortnight). This way, faculty, associated researchers, and students can drop by to discuss any issue methodological or statistical before they become serious problems.

Here I some of the things I could help you with:

  • sharpening research questions and formulating them in statistical terms (usually the single most important aspect!);
  • providing feedback on a study design, an application, or a write-up;
  • running a sanity check on an analysis;
  • finding suitable data visualisations;
  • fitting complex models—and simpler ones, too;
  • interpreting model output;
  • making sense of the methods or stats in a published study that you don’t quite get or that you’re skeptical about.

My aim isn’t to replace supervisors, to rescue projects at the eleventh hour, or to squeeze out a significant p-value from the advisees’ data. Rather, it is to provide researchers with independent methodological and statistical feedback throughout their research projects.

If you’re interested, get in touch by e-mail so that we can work out the details.

  • On-site and therefore available only to institutions not farther than a 90-minute commute by public transport away from Bern.
  • Sessions can be on appointment or one a first come, first serve basis and last for roughly 40 minutes.
  • Reference rate for a four-hour block with up to two hours of prep and follow-up: CHF 850.
  • Other durations possible.
  • Bookable as a regular event (e.g., weekly, fortnightly) over a longer time frame (at least four months) rather than as a one-off.
  • In English, German, French or Dutch.

Consulting and data analyses

I’m happy to take on consulting work for researchers who need help with their research design, statistical analysis, or data interpretation. While my own experience is mostly in the social sciences, my statistical training extends beyond this.

I can help you with:

  • sharpening research questions and formulating them in statistical terms (usually the single most important aspect!);
  • designing your study;
  • stress-testing questionnaires;
  • outlining or checking analysis plans;
  • writing grant applications;
  • choosing effective visualisations;
  • making sense of model output;
  • making your work reproducible and transparent through open data, open code, preregistrations, and documentation;
  • data wrangling;
  • providing feedback on manuscripts;
  • or even doing the entire analysis from start to finish.

My goal isn’t to help you squeeze out a significant p-value or run analyses whose principal merit is that everyone in the field runs them. Rather, it is to help you design, run, and analyse studies that strike a suitable balance between technical correctness and accessibility to others in the field.

If you’re interested, get in touch by e-mail. If I think I can help you, we can arrange a short video call to discuss details.

  • Both remote and, if the commute from Bern is feasible, on-site consulting are possible.
  • Work can be billed per hour or at a fixed quote.
  • Reference rate per hour: CHF 170.
  • Oral consulting in English, German, French or Dutch; written products in English, German or Dutch.