The Statistical Advisory Service can get the most from your data: be it climate change or cancer
Imperial’s Statistical Advisory Service fills that gap by providing consultancy services to external organisations. From survival analysis to time-series applied statistics, they are able to apply the latest in mathematical research to real-life problems.
Their services include advice on selecting the right data analysis methods, interpreting, presenting and explaining results and advice on study design.
“Some of our research areas are very specialised, such as survival analysis.” says Dr Bernard North, head of the Advisory Service. “But all our cutting-edge knowledge is applicable to real-life, whether it’s clinical trial design, energy usage statistics or health studies. We always make sure we use the right method for the project.”
Changing data
Monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a crucial stage in tackling climate change. One company involved in carbon emissions and carbon credits used the Statistical Advisory Service to analyse the N2O emission data they’d recorded.
Changes in the UN regulations meant that their monitoring software, used in emission stations all over the globe, was recording less regularly than the required 2 seconds. How this affected the data they’d obtained was a key question in its reliability.
They turned to statisticians at Imperial to analyse the data, which they used to determine the average flow and the precision of that average. The team at Imperial analytically estimated the impact of sampling at frequencies lower than those required by the UN. They discovered that whilst the average itself wasn’t affected, its precision was.
The consultants then developed a method to correct the precision of the estimated average, explaining their methods to the clients to ensure full understanding of their report.
Staff at the advisory service are passionate not only about using the right statistical method for the job, but about communicating their results in the right way too.
“It’s important for our clients to have an understanding of the work we’ve done.” says Dr Fabiana Gordon. “Often they’ll need to present the report to stakeholders or senior managers and to help them do that successfully we always sit down and explain the report in detail.”
For more information on how statistics consultancy can help your organisation, please contact us.
