statistics training

[MarasmeAbsolu]

I am a scientist, working in a biomedical environment, and while I use stats on a daily basis, I need to evidence some sort of formal qualification in that area for promotion in my job.

Ideally, I wanted to join the distance learning route of a well known UK MSc programme, but the cost is prohibitive. Instead, I am wondering what people thought of the RSS professional qualifications (graduate diploma being the highest)?

[MarasmeAbsolu]

noone? NOONE???

[Parietal]

I don't know about the RSS professional qualifications.

would something like Coursera cover it? There are some good online stats courses out there.

what did other people in your field do to get promoted?

[MarasmeAbsolu]

I am in a kind of "niche" position. In my unit / school, noone else does my job.
Let's just say that this is course accreditation linked ;)

I will go to coursera - but a kind poster PMed me and noted that RSS quals are well respected, so I might as well go for that and check coursera for learning support :)

exciting!

[justjuanmorebeer]

If you go on the Social Research Association website there are links to courses on there. Also NatCen run them too.
NCRM also have courses listed for all research methods. Good luck.

[StillSmallVoiceOfQualms]

The RSS qualifications are well-respected among statisticians, but my understanding is that they are more geared towards people wanting to become statisticians (there's a small subset of society for you...) rather than people looking for supporting stats. They're more like a degree in statistics with all the theoretical stuff as well as practical methods.

NCRM and SRA are more social science orientated; since you're in a biomedical field you might find a biostatistics course more useful, although if you just need basic statistics they may be suitable.

I've only recently heard of coursera; I don't know how it's viewed as a qualification, although the biostatistics offerings all seem to be offered by John Hopkins University which is respectable. They look quite basic though - no modelling that I can see, and only basic two-sample hypothesis tests.

I think it depends what kind of topics you're looking for - do you just need a piece of paper to say you've done a basic stats course, or are you looking for training in more complex biostatistical methods?

(In case it's not obvious from my post, I'm a statistician!)

[MedSchoolRat]

How fast do you want to get this qualification??

Colleague has another PT job as online tutor for LSHTM course, which is probably research methods/stats. But you can only sign up for those at certain times of the year. And probably pricey £££.

[MarasmeAbsolu]

yep MedSchoolRat - ££££. All the Coursera ones are far too basic.
I've looked at the RSS - I think it affords the correct level of qualification for what I am after... I just need to manage to study the hard core math parts to pass!

[StillSmallVoiceOfQualms]

Go for it!
If you're a scientist you're obviously competent at maths, so it's just a matter of getting to grips with the more theoretical stuff - it's nowhere near as abstract as pure maths!

[steph1riggs]

hey..you can check khan academy statistics and probability classes or Stanford online statistics courses out or hire a statistics homework checker..good luck

[MarasmeAbsolu]

Thanks Steph but that's too basic - looking for a formal qualification whih will not cost me the time and full fee of a PG programme.

I'm still not sure I have the time to fit the RSS exams in, and it's the last year they are running anyway...

[irhashareef15]

I found this article informative.

[JoMumsnet]

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