Dr. Ashis Sengupta will offer his "Directional Data" course online at statistics.com May 5 June 2.
Directional data (also called circular data) are data that are measured on a repeating scale (e.g. the compass or clock). They are used in a wide variety of fields environmental and geo-science, biology and medicine, military analysis, to mention a few. Standard statistical tools are not useful for such data - for example, the "distance" between 340 and 20 angular degrees is more commonly thought of as 40 degrees, as opposed to the 320 degrees a standard calculation would yield. This course will cover the exploratory and inferential tools needed to analyze such data and course participants will gain hands on software experience. Environmental and geo-scientists who need to analyze directional data (propagation and homing patterns, vanishing angles, wind direction), industrial researchers and quality engineers (wheel imbalance, designing and assessing curves in roads and rails), military analysts (tracking aircraft direction, direction of homing signals, targeting performance), biologists and medical researchers (circadian rhythm data) will all find this course useful. Dr. Ashis SenGupta, an expert in the analysis of directional data, is a professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, and a visiting professor at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of the text "Topics in Circular Statistics," "Directional Data Analysis in Environmental and Ecological Sciences" (a special issue of "Environmental & Ecological Statistics") and numerous refereed articles in various journals. The course lasts four weeks and consists of a series of four weekly lessons (directed readings and/or notes, plus exercises). Direct interaction (Q&A) with the instructor throughout the four week period takes place via a private discussion board. Expect to spend about 5-15 hours per week; there are no set hours when you must be online. Details and registration: http://www.statistics.com/content/courses/directional/ Peter Bruce [EMAIL PROTECTED]
