Project proposal and preparation.

Review of literature, data and statistical methods.

Aim of the units:

STAT835 & STAT836 are research units designed mainly for Master of Applied Statistics students who intend to apply for a PhD candidature in future. If you do not belong to this category you should undertake STAT825.

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:  STAT835/836 WILL NOT BE OFFERED AFTER 2013. Students may enroll in STAT835 in S1 2013 and STAT836 in S2 2013 but these units will not be available after this year.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you enrol STAT835 in one session and STAT836 in the session followed. You are expected to make a substantial progress in your project during the session in which you are enrolled in STAT835 although you submit the project at the end of the session in which you are enrolled in STAT836.

Getting started:

The first priority is to settle on a project topic that appeals to you and for which we can offer suitable supervision. Please note STAT835 & STAT836 are two parts of one research project, so that your project must be research oriented.

The first thing you need to do is to contact a potential supervisor who is willing to supervise you, and discuss with him/her your ideas or ask for suggestions of the research topic. The research interests of our department staff are available at http://www.stat.mq.edu.au/our_staff. If you have difficulties to locate a supervisor you may seek help from the Unit Convenor.

Out of these discussions with the potential supervisor the student will choose or be guided to a particular topic. The student must then secure an agreement with the supervisor to supervise the topic and inform the Unit Convenor, via email, of this agreement. Bear in mind that you are asking the staff member to commit considerable time to work with you. Many supervisors will prefer you to work on a project of their choice, particularly if you do not have very specific plans of your own, as the work will then have continuing benefit for and support from both participants. You should communicate with your supervisor regularly by email or in person (eg, once per week), regarding your project.

When you have found a member of staff who is willing to supervise your project you must email the Unit Convenor the supervisor's name and the project topic.

Requirements of the project:

1.      Scope of the project.

The project should involve at least some (but not necessarily all) of the following:

·       Literature search and review. The Science Citation Index, the Current Index of Statistics and the CD-ROM directories in the Library are invaluable tools for such work. Also Mathematical Reviews and Zentralblatt für Mathematik may be useful.

·       Problem formulation, such as model specification and analysis.  

·       Survey of recent developments in a field. This will involve literature search and review with the above suggestions relevant.

·       Your approaches to solve the problem.

·         Results, such as simulation studies or applications to real data.

·         Conclusions.

·         Bibliography.

2.    Format.

      A common format for many projects usually includes the following items:

   Title page (including unit code, eg, STAT835/STAT836)

   Abstract

   Content page(s)

Main body of the project in sections (or chapters) (headings are only explanatory; you may change the headings):

o         Introduction

o         Literature review

o         Methods

o         Results

o         Discussion and Conclusion

            Bibliography

            Appendix

      As sections of your first draft are written ask your supervisor to read them and comment. Then work on the suggestions and rewrite.

         Note that the project must be typed using a word processor with mathematical capability, if necessary. We recommend using Latex to type your thesis. You may first download and install Miktex (free) on your PC, and then download and install Tex editing software Texmaker (free) which enables you to edit, manage and run the Latex files. 

3.    Length

            Excluding index, references and appendices, the project length should be between 11,000 and 15,000 words although for certain topics (for example those with considerable theoretical content) fewer than 11,000 words may be acceptable.

4.   Standard of English

      The project needs to be written up in English of an acceptable standard.  If English is not your first language, you should seek the help of an English-speaking person to correct your grammar and spelling, or use the services of professional editors.

5.   Dates for Submission of Project

      Projects have to be submitted by the 21^st of June 2013 (one week before the last day of the examination period of the session when you are enrolled in STAT836).

      Three spiral-bound copies should be submitted to the Unit Convenor in person, via your supervisor or by mail. One copy is for your supervisor to keep, and the other two copies will be examined by two markers.

     
Very Important Note:

Students who fail to complete their project (stat835 and stat836) by the due date but have made satisfactory progress in their project during the session(s) may re-enrol stat836 in the following session to complete the project.

Students who do not complete nor have made substantial progress in their project in the session(s) will NOT be given permission to re-enrol and an F or FA grade will be awarded to both stat835 and stat836 unless there are special circumstances.

6. Academic Honesty Policy

Academic honesty is an integral part of the core values and principles contained in the Macquarie University Ethics Statement. Its fundamental principle is that all staff and students act with integrity in the creation, development, application and use of ideas and information. You must read the University's policy on Academic Honesty. This can be found on the MQ web site at:

http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html.

Penalties may include a deduction of marks, failure in the unit, and/or referral to the University Discipline Committee.

7.    Examination and grading

      Two examiners will examine your project according to the Marking Guide attached at the back of this document. You will be awarded a grade (with a numerical mark) of HD, D, Cr, P or F for your project, ie, for both STAT835 and STAT836. Some information on the requirements for awarding these grades is given below.

HD: An excellently written research project with novel ideas or procedures.

D: A well written project with a clear description of the research problem. Solutions to this research problem are clearly explained and tested. There are some clear research components in the project. However, its content falls below HD standard due to lack of novelty or other problems.

Cr: A good quality project with clear contents, but which falls below HD or D standard.

P: A reasonable project which may have very mild lack of clarity in its problem definition, solutions or simulation studies.

F: A very poor project with most of its contents being extremely unclear.

      Note: Students must be aware that you only have one opportunity to submit the project and the two markers will grade your project according to the two submitted copies. You do not have a chance to correct and resubmit.

8.   Examiners
Two examiners (internal or external) will exam your project and provide numerical marks. These marks are then averaged to give the final grade to the project.

9.   Presentation
Candidates may be requested to give a talk based on their work in a 30 minute seminar after submitting the project.

MARKING GUIDE for STAT835/STAT836 Research Project

ASPECTS

ITEM

Project Description

(10%)

Background: Rationale for project

Aim: Clear statement of objectives

Other:

Statistical Methods

(30%)

Understanding of the key statistical issues

Appropriate choices of statistical methods

Adequate justification and explanation of methods chosen

Other:

Data Analysis/Simulation

(30%)

Clear data/simulation description

Initial data/simulation analysis, cleaning and manipulation

Correct implementation, including software

Other:

Presentation of Data/Results

(10%)

Quality and appropriateness of tables

Quality and appropriateness of graphs

Other:

Interpretation of Results

(10%)

Understanding statistical principles (CIs, tests, power, etc)

Correct summaries of results

Discussion of model successes and limitations

Conclusions consistent with results

Other:

Presentation/

Writing

(10%)

Clear, concise, correct English

Appropriate referencing

Other:

Note: The weightings of the aspects may be varied at the examiners’ discretion as appropriate. For example, a more theoretical project would have less weighting for data analysis.