The unit is offered in distance mode. Our means of communication will be via printed notes which will be mailed out, e-mail, and elearning (http://elearning.sydney.edu.au/), the University of Sydney's e-learning site. Our primary communication method is via elearning and we expect you to log in at least weekly to check for announcements and release of assignments and so on. To access elearning a uniKey is required. If you have not been sent one then contact Ken Beath.

The unit relies heavily on the prescribed text Hosmer, Lemeshow and May (see below). The study notes provide a guide to readings in this text, as well as sometimes to other readings, which will be provided. They also provide additional explanation where this is needed. In the study notes for each module, tutorial exercises are given, mostly referring to exercises in Hosmer, Lemeshow and May. 

Study notes will be mailed to you, at the beginning of semester and will also be posted on the iLearn site. If you do not receive these within a few days then please contact Lesley Mooney. 

We will be using elearning for online, posting of course notes, assignments, solutions and data sets, and submission of exercises, assignments and the take-home test. 

Textbooks

The prescribed text is Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S and May S (2008). Applied Survival Analysis}, John Wiley and Sons, Second Edition.   There are numerous texts on survival analysis which you may wish to consult, but the following may be particularly helpful because of its use of Stata:

Cleves MA, Gould WW, Gutierrez RG and Marchenko Y (2010). An Introduction to Survival Analysis using Stata, Third Edition, Stata Press.  

Other useful texts are:

Klein JP and Moeschberger ML (2003). Survival analysis : techniques for censored and truncated data}, Springer. Kleinbaum DG (1995). Survival analysis : a self-learning text}, Springer-Verlag.

Software

We will be using Stata (version 11 or later). The current version of Stata is 13. While Stata has a GUI we will be using the command language. It is still useful to experiment with the GUI, as the corresponding commands are available in the Review pane. The software is available in the computer laboratories on Macquarie University campus. If you need your own copy of Stata, you will need to purchase it directly from the suppliers. You can place your order via the Survey Design website at http://www.survey-design.com.au. For those that haven't used Stata previously there is much introductory material on the web. A useful starting point is http://www.stata.com/links/resources1.html, and particularly good is http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata

 Advanced GradPlan Intercooled Stata 13 with perpetual licence (consisting of CD for Windows, Mac or Linux, including PDF of manuals) = AU\$212 (+ postage)

 Basic GradPlan Intercooled Stata 13 - as above but with a one-year licence = AU\$118 (+ postage)

 Basic GradPlan Intercooled Stata 13 - as above but with a six month licence = AU\$88 (+ postage)

There is also a Small Stata option; however, this is limited to around 1,000 observations which will not be sufficient.

Go to the Survey Design website listed above and go to the Grad Plan page (LH column `GradPlan' link). Above the prices is a link to an order form. Followthe instructions and you should order a GradPlan Intercooled package. On the order form you should note that you are enrolled in a BCA course (BCA students) or STAT827 (MU students), your student ID number, the university in which you are enrolled, and the operating system of the computer that you will be using. For GradPlan orders delivery is normally within a few days of payment being cleared.

Changes from previous Offering

Removed Take-home Test and one exercise. Expanded use of new categorical variables.

The unit timetable is based on the University of Sydney timetable, which starts a week later than Macquarie University, and has only a one week mid-semester break, at a different time.

Requests for an extension of the due date for an assignment must be made in advance of the due date for that assessment. These requests must be made vdirectly to the unit coordinator by email. The unit coordinator will reply by email with the decision as to whether an extension has been granted and the new due date.

The penalty for late submission, where permission has not been granted, is as follows: 5% (of earned mark) will be deducted for each day that an assignment is late, up to a maximum of 50%, and that the final mark for the subject cannot be reduced to a fail.