Policies

Client-Statistical Collaborator Agreement

Services provided by the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA) are contingent on compliance with the terms below.  There is no charge for consulting services, but clients are limited to 10 hours per semester of assistance.  Exceptions to the 10-hour policy may be made for projects in which joint publications are being pursued or for those with potential for future collaborative research.

  Client Agreements:

• I will provide 24 hours notice to all parties involved if I must cancel a consulting meeting for any reason.  Failure to provide this notice will result in forfeiture of consulting privileges for the remainder of the semester.
• To make the most of my time with The Collaborators I will come prepared to the first meeting with clearly defined research goals and questions, any cleaned data I have collected, any research papers that may assist The Collaborators in solving my problem, and the results of any analyses already performed, including plots or graphs.
• I understand that many problems cannot be solved in one meeting and am prepared to have several meetings with the consulting team if needed.
• I understand that I am limited to 10 hours of assistance per semester.  I also understand that this 10-hour time limit is not limited to time in meetings but also includes time that my consultants spend working on my project outside of meetings.  This typically results in approximately 3 meetings with my consultants.  I also understand that if I need more assistance, co-authorship opportunities must be explored.
• When appropriate I will give feedback regarding my experience with LISA (you will be emailed a link for submitting feedback).
• I have complied with all university and governmental regulations regarding my research.  Refer to http://www.researchcompliance.vt.edu for more information.
• I understand that I cannot use the LISA for assistance on class projects or homework.

  Statistical Collaborator Agreements:

• We will notify all parties involved at least 24 hours in advance if we must cancel a meeting.
• We will provide assistance in a timely manner to our clients.
• We will advise clients on appropriate analyses for their data and assist in performing the analyses as time allows and as the client desires.
• We will discuss with the client any statistical assumptions made and potential drawbacks of the analyses.
• We will attempt to communicate the statistical methods used in terms the client understands.