I've provided such assistance to several (perhaps many)
graduates students; the matter of "how much is too much"
has frankly not entered my mind. Nearly all of those
who approach me have been exposed to some level of training
in statistical methods and/or the design of experiments.
However... in general... this training has confused more
than it enlightened. It is sad, but true, most courses
in "designed experiments" are virtually a waste for
scientists and engineers; too much math and too complex.
I don't know what makes people think that "statistics"
can be learned in one semester... or that computer
software can substitute for (1) sound training in
designed experiments and/or (2) for deep thinking about
how the data will come to be and what we will do with
the data.
That said, here are my ground rules for helping graduate
students. First, I am an engineer... so I will advise
only students who are working in physical sciences or
engineering; not in the life sciences. I do not understand
living things. Second, I insist that they show evidence
that they are learning from me; I'm not going to just
do the work for them. Third, as part of this, we must
have dialogues back-and-forth about their project.
I will not accept their data "after the fact" and see what
I can do with it; I must be involved from the beginning
(or at least before the experiments are run.)
This may sound harsh, but I spent 40+ years working in
industry... in charge of an applied statistics group.
Almost without exception we had to teach scientists
and engineers basic statistical methods and designed
experiments (this includes M.S. and PhDs); their
training at the graduate level was not at all useful to
them. This is harsh... but it is a fact of life.
Comments are welcome!!
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
In article [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (EAKIN MARK E) wrote:
A graduate student showed me an email from a web-based service that
offers
to help graduate students plan their study, analyze the data, and
edit the
results. He was concerned about the ethics of using this service.
In my opinion, graduate students have always received this kind
of assistance from their committee members and fellow students. My
only
concern would be the amount of assistance provided and the inclusion
of
appropriate citation(s). But for me this leads to the question of how
much
is too much?
Any comments?
Mark Eakin
Associate Professor
Information Systems and Management Sciences Department
University of Texas at Arlington
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
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