ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION: Assignment submission will be online through the iLearn page.

Submit assignments online via the appropriate assignment link on the iLearn page. A personalised cover sheet is not required with online submissions. Read the submission statement carefully before accepting it as there are substantial penalties for making a false declaration.

• Assignment submission is via iLearn. You should upload this as a single scanned PDF file.
• Please note the quick guide on how to upload your assignments provided on the iLearn page.
• Please make sure that each page in your uploaded assignment corresponds to only one A4 page (do not upload an A3 page worth of content as an A4 page in landscape). If you are using an app like Clear Scanner, please make sure that the photos you are using are clear and shadow-free.
• It is your responsibility to make sure your assignment submission is legible.
• If there are technical obstructions to your submitting online, please email us to let us know.

You may submit as often as required prior to the due date/time. Please note that each submission will completely replace any previous submissions. It is in your interests to make frequent submissions of your partially completed work as insurance against technical or other problems near the submission deadline.

LATE SUBMISSION OF WORK:  All assessment tasks must be submitted by the official due date and time. In the case of a late submission for a non-timed assessment (e.g. an assignment), if special consideration has NOT been granted, 20% of the earned mark will be deducted for each 24-hour period (or part thereof) that the submission is late for the first 2 days (including weekends and/or public holidays). For example, if an assignment is submitted 25 hours late, its mark will attract a penalty equal to 40% of the earned mark. After 2 days (including weekends and public holidays) a mark of 0% will be awarded. Timed assessment tasks (e.g. tests, examinations) do not fall under these rules.

Delivery and Resources

The unit is offered only in distance mode. Our means of communication will be via notes which can be obtained from ilearn, e-mail, and forums on ilearn. Our primary communication method is via ilearn and we expect you to log in at least weekly to check for announcements and release of assignments and so on. 

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. 

We will be using ilearn for online discussions, posting of course notes, assignments, solutions and data sets, and submission of exercises, and assignments.

Textbooks

The prescribed text is Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S and May S (2008). Applied Survival Analysis, John Wiley and Sons, Second Edition. This is essential as it has readings which are required. Online copies are available from the library.  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 (2012). Survival analysis : a self-learning text, Springer-Verlag.

Moore, DF (2010). Applied Survival Analysis using R, Springer. (for those using R)

Therneau, TM and  Grambsch, PM (2001). Modeling Survival Data: Extending the Cox Model, Springer. (more advanced treatment with code for SAS and R)

Software

We will be using Stata (version 13 or later). 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. Stata is available through Appstream https://mq.okta.com/ and select Appstream - Student Applications. Alternatively you can obtain your own copy of Stata, and will need to purchase it directly from the suppliers. You can place your order via the Survey Design website at https://www.surveydesign.com.au/buystudent.html . The following options are recommended:

GradPlan Stata IC 16 with perpetual licence (download for Windows, Mac or Linux, including PDF of manuals) = $AUD376

GradPlan Stata IC 16 - as above but with a one-year licence = $AUD157

GradPlan Stata IC 16 - as above but with a six month licence = $AUD81 (this will be sufficient time to complete the course)

These prices are for the downloadable version. A DVD can be sent for an additional cost but isn't justified. A valid Australian or NZ university e-mail address is required.

There is also a Small Stata option; however, this is limited to around 1,000 observations which will not be sufficient. Any of the other options have capabilities beyond what is needed for the course.

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/resources-for-learning-stata/, and particularly good is https://stats.idre.ucla.edu/stata/ You should especially learn the use of do files, as these allow for storing a series of commands. If you do wish to buy an introductory text on Stata then "An Introduction to Stata for Health Researchers" by S. Juul and M. Frydenberg, Stata Press. 4th ed, 2014 is good. There are other texts available in the library.

The unit timetable is based on the BCA timetable, which this year starts a week later and only has only a one week mid-semester break (week beginning 13 April).