Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit

Advice, Consultancy & Collaboration

What can CEBU help with?

  • development and refinement of your research question
  • study design
  • sample size calculations
  • protocol development
  • questionnaire design
  • database design for data capture
  • data capture and cleaning
  • randomisation
  • analysis planning
  • statistical analysis
  • presentation and writing up of results

How does CEBU operate?

Our support can take various forms, ranging from one-off consultations to on-going support and collaboration for the life-time of a project.

  • For any research project that is based primarily on the RCH campus we provide a free initial consultation. Following the initial consultation, up to 5 hours of free additional support is available. Details.

Statisticians can provide valuable input at all stages of a research project. CEBU statisticians prefer to be involved in projects on a collaborative basis, so that they participate in as many aspects of the research design and conduct as possible. In our experience this usually leads to better quality data and higher quality research output.

  • For projects requiring more than a few hours of support, CEBU will generally have to charge (in order to recover at least some of the cost). For details of CEBU charging, and the different funding models which are possible, see CEBU cost recovery policy (how and why we charge for our services). 

    Q: At what stage of your project should you consult CEBU?
    A: As early as possible! A research project is only as good as the data that are collected, and once a study has been completed it can be difficult for CEBU to rectify any issues in the trial design or data collection.

What else might I need to know?

  • Trainees/students
    If you are a clinical trainee (e.g. Paediatric registrar/fellow) or a student (eg PhD, MD, MMed, MPH) , please read Information for trainees and students.
  • Clinical trials
    If your study is a clinical trial, see Support for Clinical Trials.
  • Authorship
    Issues on papers arising from projects with CEBU collaboration.
  • Statistical software
    We use the statistics software package Stata (not SPSS) for data analysis.
  • Applications for funding
    Where funding is being sought for a study remember to include statistical support into the budget.  See CEBU cost recovery policy (how and why we charge for our services).
  • Ethics Committee applications
    If you are submitting an application to the RCH Ethics in Human Research Committee for a project which requires statistical support, please complete the Project Review Form and submit this with your application.
  • Not sure how to write a protocol
    See the guidelines document in Support for Clinical Trials.
  • Research Development & Ethics 
    Is another source of advice on protocol development, research co-ordination, support in complying with regulatory and ethics requirements and tips for project management.
  • Data management
    Need help with data management (data capture, design of databases for data capture)?


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