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\begin{document}

\def\course{36-726: Statistical Practice}
\def\semester{Spring 2021}
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\begin{center}\Large\bf
\course \\
\semester
\end{center}

\begin{center}\Large
\tt              MW   9:00 -- 10:20 am Pittsburgh Time\\
{\bf (Note Time Change)}\\
Zoom Meeting ID\footnotemark: 954 6049 2939 / Passcode: 042583\\
% http://www.stat.cmu.edu/\~{}brian/763
Class Materials: https://canvas.cmu.edu/

\end{center}
\footnotetext{Class web link: 
 https://cmu.zoom.us/j/95460492939?pwd=dFlYbnBsRDdFVXF5MUh4TzlIbWlndz09}
\begin{center}
% ``A data scientist is someone who can obtain, scrub, explore, model, and interpret data, blending hacking, statistics, and machine learning. Data scientists not only are adept at working with data, but appreciate data itself as a first-class product.'' -- Hillary Mason, founder, {\em Fast Forward Labs}\\[1em]

``It's not necessary to know everything about statistics.  It is better to understand the problem and use what `tools' you have, than to know every advanced procedure and not quite understand the problem.''\\  -- Fred Ruland, {\em Guide for the New Statistical Consultant}\\[1em] 

``Data are just summaries of thousands of stories–tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.'' -- Chip and Dan Heath, authors of {\em Made to Stick} and {\em Switch}  % https://heathbrothers.com/

\end{center}

\head{Instructors}

\noindent
\begin{tabular}{lcl}
\hspace*{0.5em}
\begin{tabular}[t]{l}
\em Brian Junker (lead)\\
stat.cmu.edu/people/faculty/brian \\ 
{\tt brian@stat.cmu.edu} \\[1em]
\em Valerie Ventura\\
stat.cmu.edu/people/faculty/valerie-ventura\\
{\tt vventura@andrew.cmu.edu}

\end{tabular}

& \hspace*{-1em} & 

\begin{tabular}[t]{l}
\em Zach Branson\\
stat.cmu.edu/people/faculty/zach-branson \\
{\tt zach@stat.cmu.edu}\\[1em]

\em Brian Macdonald\\
stat.cmu.edu/people/faculty/brian-macdonald-0\\
{\tt brianmac@andrew.cmu.edu}
\end{tabular}

\end{tabular}

\head{Office Hours}

\noindent
\begin{tabular}[t]{lcl}
\hspace*{0.5em}
\begin{tabular}[t]{l}
{\em Junker:} 
Zoom\footnotemark @ 923 9360 1531 \\
Passcode: 491610\\
10:00--11:00am Thu, Pittsburgh Time\\
{\em (or by appointment)}.
\end{tabular}

& \hspace*{-1.5em} & 

\begin{tabular}[t]{l}
{\em Others:} TBA.
\end{tabular}

\end{tabular}



\footnotetext{BJ Office hours link: 
https://cmu.zoom.us/j/92393601531?pwd=TE50aDZKRFA5MmFpRnBQQjNUditSUT09}


\head{Prerequisites}

\noindent
You must be an MSP student to take this class.  Beyond that, 
there are no formal prerequisites for this class.  You should be familiar with IMRAD and IDMRAD paper formats, masters' level applied linear models and statistical computing, and basic professional skills, all as taught in the first semester of the MSP program.  You should be proficient with R/RStudio, and able to use or learn other statistical software that is available from the department or open-source.  You should also be able to use or learn \LaTeX{} or Microsoft Office, Zoom, and other communication tools as needed.



\clearpage

% \vspace*{0.25em}

\head{Course Overview}

\noindent
Most professional statisticians in industry, government, and academia spend a fair bit of their time providing advice and analyzing data for colleagues whose specialties are in some other field. Often, the contributions of the statistician in a scientific collaboration is to sharpen the focus of an investigation by identifying what may, and may not, be learned from a particular data set. It is part of the appeal of our discipline that it is application oriented, yet in most coursework there is inadequate time to take the applications seriously. {\bf The main purpose of this course is to help students develop skills in interacting with a client and in digging more deeply into problems that involve statistical practice.} This course is intended to help you make the transition from being a student of statistics to being a professional statistician.

Communication skills are essential for success. Through practice and discussion, this class will help you to improve your ability to interact with a client. A practicing statistician must be able to ask good questions, understand the context of the client's problem, summarize results and advise the client in a clear and useful manner, both verbally and in writing. Work on projects in this course will help you to improve these skills. Often, a lasting benefit to the client will be the education he or she receives from the statistician. This is another aspect of the process that improves with experience, and which you should be conscious of in your work here.

\head{Texts and Course Materials}

\noindent
This course is very much a practical apprenticeship for you.  There are no perfect textbooks for statistical consulting; it is best learned by practice.  Below we have listed a few resources for those who would like a textbook close by for reference.  The remaining instructional materials for this course will be available on-line, on Canvas.  Materials for your consulting project will be available from the client you are working with.

\vspace*{0.25em}
\head{Helpful Texts }

\noindent
\begin{description} %\tight

\item Ruland, F. (2014). {\em Guide for the New Statsitical Consultant: Some Suggestions and Three Key Questions to Ask.}  Seattle: Amazon.com.  Available in Kindle (free), or paperback (\$5.99). \\[0.5em]
The author has a long career in statistical consulting in commercial and university settings.  This little booklet (26 pages!) contains a great deal of wisdom about consulting, which you will hear echoed in our classes together.\\[-1.3em]

\item Glasman-Deal, H. (2021).  {\em Science Research Writing for Native and Non-Native Speakers of English, Second Edition.}  London: World Scientific Publishing.  Available at amazon.com (\$25.00). \\[0.5em]
A detailed guide to writing empirical papers in science, focusing on IMRAD and related formats. Contains analysis of writing samples, suggested vocabulary for scientific papers, etc.\\[-1.3em]

\item Cabrera, J. \& McDougall, A. (2002). {\em Statistical Consulting.}  NY: Springer.  Available at amazon.com in hardcover (\$70.75) or paperback (\$99.99), or from {\tt link.springer.com} (free, if you access through the CMU campus or VPN networks).\\[0.5em]
A detailed guide to statistical consulting practice, communication and methodology, with several detailed case studies.  Worth a skim, but you will probably learn more by doing your own consulting in this class. % \\[-1.3em]

\end{description}




\vspace*{-0.75em}
\head{Course Organization and Objectives}

\noindent
Prior to the start of the semester, you've ranked projects and Jamie McGovern has matched you as teams to projects.  For everyone's benefit, in the first several class periods, all of our clients will give short presentations of their projects, with time for Q\&A for you after each presentation.  

Each project is assigned one of the course instructors as a mentor. You will work for most of the semester with the client and the faculty mentor to develop solutions to the client’s problem in the framework of guided practice. Typically, a project involves:
\begin{enumerate}\tight
\item Learning to work with the client, and fully understanding the client’s needs
\item Understanding the data, where it came from and cleaning it
\item Optionally gathering new data, for example, by web scraping or other means
\item Testing various solutions to the client’s problem
\item Fully developing one or more solutions
\item Providing interim reports to the client
\item Providing a final written report, a final oral report with slides, and well-documented software during the last two weeks of the semester
\end{enumerate}
During the semester, some of the classes will be lectures about presentation skills, computational approaches, and new statistical theory and practice related to specific projects. The class will be organized around milestones which include practice talks, presenting incremental progress to date, as week as written progress reports. Each project group will meet weekly with their mentor. Written reports and group presentations will be evaluated for feedback at least twice during the semester. Furthermore, a major learning component of the course comes from listening, evaluating and interacting with other groups about their work, so that you are not only learning from your project but also from the context and the issues that arise from all the course projects. 

The specific objectives of this course are that by the end of the semester you will be able to:
\begin{enumerate}\tight
\item Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills related to working with clients and with your group
\item Demonstrate effective skills for data cleaning, analysis, and model verification
\item Demonstrate effective written and oral presentation skills.
\item Work effectively in a group setting
\item Demonstrate production of software that is sufficiently well-documented to be useful to a client
\item Grasp the entire arc of the consulting project, and explain how to approach a new project
\item Demonstrate mastery of issues related to the ethics of human use.
\end{enumerate}

\head{Zoom \& Participation}

\noindent
Most, likely all, of this course---classtime, office hours, etc.---will be conducted via Zoom.  If public health conditions permit, we will consider some formal or informal face to face meetings.  Classes on Zoom will be recorded and made available on a very limited basis for review.  

In-class participation is especially important in this course, which is unfortunately a hardship for students in Asia.  I will explore the possibilty of holding class at a time that works for students in both North America and Asia, but you should plan on being awake and attending most or all classes, even if it is in the middle of the night.

\comment{
During class it would be nice if you have your video on, but I do not require it.  You should have your audio off, unless you need to speak.  If you have a question, please raise your hand in the ``participants'' window, or write your question in the ``chat'' window.  I will answer as soon as I see your hand or your question (if your question is urgent, and I am not responding quickly, feel free to turn on your audio and interrupt me verbally).  If you are worried about being identified in the class recordings, it is OK to leave your video off and use a pseudonym to identify yourself in Zoom.

}

\clearpage

\head{Piazza}

\noindent
If you have questions that cannot be easily asked or answered in class or in office hours, Piazza is a good place to post your questions. You can answer or comment on each others' posts if you wish, or wait for one of the instructors to answer.  Please be kind in your questions, answers and comments: On Piazza, there are no dumb questions,  and no dumb mistakes.

While there may be some exceptions, Piazza is generally not a good place to ask specific questions about your project, your team, or your client; instead take this up directly with your project's faculty mentor or another course instructor. 


\head{Grading}

\noindent
Most of the class periods will be taken up by presentations by clients or student teams. You are expected to participate actively in class and interact both in class and outside with your team and with the client. The appropriate frequency of client meetings should be determined in discussion with your faculty mentor.

The final course grade will be calculated as follows:

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ll}
Activity & Percentage of Final Grade\\
\hline
Project and related group activities & 70\% \\
Non-project homework & 10\% \\
Participation and engagement & 20\% 
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

{\em ``Project and related group activities''} includes meetings and interactions with your team, with your faculty mentor and with your client, as well as data analysis, report writing, oral presentations, etc.   This category, and the category {\em ``Participation and engagement''}, are graded somewhat subjectively, by necessity.  Where possible we will provide rubrics and other guides for your work, but part of professional practice is simply showing up, engaging intellectually, and exhibiting pride of craft.\\[1em]

\head{Other Course Policies}

\begin{description}\tight\vspace*{-0.5em}

\item[\em Attendance \& Participation:] It is essential to the class that you participate actively. This means you must do all the assignments including the readings; you must take part in discussions; and you must be present and prepared for class. On-time attendance is mandatory.
\item[\em Team Participation:] Every member of the project team is expected to contribute actively, productively, and professionally. We do not expect anything less than professional conduct and responsibility at all times.
\item[\em Academic Integrity \& Collaboration:] Collaboration and discussion of readings and homework problem is encouraged. However, each student is required to write up any non-group HW solutions independently based solely on your own understanding. {\em See also the section on page~\pageref{b:acad-integ} on academic integrity.}
\item[\em Late-work/Make-up work policy:] A part of professional practice is completing work on time.  While I will usually allow a short ``grace period'' of an hour or so for classwork, I cannot guarantee that I will accept late submissions, unless we have discussed an extension together {\em in advance}.   Work that you do for a client {\em must} be completed on time, and your ability to do so will be a factor in your course grade.

\comment{

\item[Accommodations for students with disabilities:] If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact Catherine Getchell, Director of Disability Resources, 412-268-6121, getchell@cmu.edu. If you have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, we encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with me as early in the semester as possible. We will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate.
\item[Statement on student wellness:] As a student, you may experience a range of challenges that can interfere with learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, substance use, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may diminish your academic performance and/or reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. CMU services are available, and treatment does work. You can learn more about confidential mental health services available on campus at: http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Support is always available (24/7) from Counseling and Psychological Services: 412-268-2922.

}

\end{description}

\clearpage

\head{Academic Integrity}\label{b:acad-integ}

\noindent
{\em As members of a top-ranked academic institution, your academic
integrity is assumed and expected.  Please see {\tt http://www.cmu.edu/academic-integrity/}; however, I expect each of you to behave well above these lower 
bounds.}
%
For all oral reports, intermediate and final papers, and other communications about your project, if you get ideas or words from a website, journal
article, book, another person (in or out of this class), etc., cite
the source in your communication, right where you use it.  Then put a
bibliography or list of sources cited at the end of the communication.    {\bf\em If 
you are not sure what is allowed, or required, please ask.}



\head{Disability and other Special Needs}

\noindent
Carnegie Mellon makes great efforts to provide physical and 
programmatic campus access to everyone\comment{ . Disability Resources 
ensures that qualified individuals receive reasonable 
accommodations and that they further receive the rights 
and protections to equal access programs and services}, as 
guaranteed by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 
and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
%
If you have a documented disability, please let me know so that
we can take whatever steps are needed to accomodate your needs.
%
Contact CMU's Disability Resources office 
({\tt http://www.cmu.edu/hr/eos/ disability/}) if
% \vspace*{-0.5em}
% \begin{itemize}\tight
% \item Y
you think you may have a disability and want to document it;
% \item Y
or you have a documented disability that is not being adequately
accomodated.
% \end{itemize}
% \vspace*{-0.5em}
For other issues and special needs, please contact a faculty mentor in this class,  your academic advisor 
or another trusted mentor, and/or the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs 
({\tt https://www.cmu.edu/student-affairs/resources.html}).
% \vspace*{-0.5em}


\head{A Note on Diversity}

\noindent
In this class, I will affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and I expect that every member of the class will do the same.  The University is enhanced by the diversity of its members, in gender, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion and culture: each of us can contribute ideas and perspectives that no one else can.  I will endeavor to present materials that are respectful of and accessible to all of our backgrounds and perspectives.  Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other students or student groups. \\[-1em]

\noindent
CMU Resources that may be useful to you include:
\begin{itemize}\tight
\item The Center for Diversity and Inclusion: https://www.cmu.edu/student-diversity/
\item The Intercultural Communication Center: https://www.cmu.edu/icc/
\item The Office of Title IX Initiatives: https://www.cmu.edu/title-ix/
\end{itemize}

\head{Wellness}

At Carnegie Mellon University, we believe our individual and collective well-being is rooted in healthy connections, to each other and to campus resources. How we care for ourselves and others is important to our success. There are a wide variety of resources, opportunities, and people that want to help you thrive inside and outside of the classroom.  Please see {\tt https://www.cmu.edu/wellness/} for general wellness resources at Carnegie Mellon.  

If you are experiencing challenges that interfere with your learning, your academic performance, or your ability to participate in daily activities, you can find out about confidential mental health services at\\ {\tt http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/}.  Support is always available 24/7 from Counseling and Psychological Services: (+1) 412-268-2922.

\clearpage

\head{Tentative Schedule}

\def\fw{{\spacing{1}\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{}}
Finals \\ Week
\end{tabular}}}

\begin{itemize}\tight
\item The timing outlined below is tentative and subject to change, depedning on how the course progresses.  
\item Depending on how projects go, we may decide to schedule some final presentation to clients in the last week of classes also.
\end{itemize}
\begin{center}\spacing{1.8}
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|p{4.6in}|}
\hline
{\bf Week} & {\bf Dates}
           & {\bf Agenda} \\ \hline \hline
Week 1 & Feb 1, Feb 3
       & \bf Project Proposal Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 2 & Feb 8, Feb 10
       & \bf Project Proposal Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 3 & Feb 15, Feb 17      %% Feb 18-19 Duolingo TAB meeting
       & \bf Topics in Statistical Practice
       \\ \hline
Week 4 & Feb 22, Feb 24$^*$  %% Feb 19-21 is a pre-candidate weekend
       & \bf First Team Progress Report Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 5 & Mar 1, Mar 3        %% Feb 26-28 is a pre-candidating weekend
       & \bf First Team Progress Report Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 6 & Mar 8, Mar 10
       & \bf Topics in Statistical Practice
       \\ \hline
Week 7 & Mar 15, Mar 17$^{**}$ %% Mar 12-14 is a pre-candiddating weekend
       & \bf Second Team Progress Report Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 8 & Mar 22, Mar 24
       & \bf Second Team Progress Report Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 9 & Mar 29, Mar 31
       & \bf Topics in Statistical Practice
       \\ \hline
Week 10 & {\bf Apr 5}$^{***}$, Apr 7
       & \bf Slack, or Additional Topics
       \\ \hline
Week 11 & Apr 12, Apr 14
       & \bf Third Team Progress Report Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 12 & Apr 19, Apr 21
       & \bf Third Team Progress Report Presentations
       \\ \hline
Week 13 & Apr 26, Apr 28
       & \bf Finishing Project Work
       \\ \hline
Week 14 & May 3, May 5
       & \bf Finishing Project Work
       \\ \hline
\fw   & May 10--17
       & \bf Final Presentations to Clients, Schedule TBA
       \\ \hline
\multicolumn{3}{l}{$^*$Tuesday Feb 23 is a break day; no classes on this day.}\\
\multicolumn{3}{l}{$^{**}$Friday Mar 19 is Mid-Semester Break; no classes on this day.}\\
\multicolumn{3}{l}{$^{***}$Monday Apr 5 is a break day; no classes on this day.} \\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}




\end{document}

