About SAMC, Inc. Scientific Consulting
SAMC was started to provide statistical analysis, research services and data management to researchers worldwide. In the past, scientific researchers frequently had a limited choice of available statisticians. Many clients express gratitude that SAMC provides services that are either not available in their location or that the available services are inadequate. The growth of the internet has had a substantial impact on the ability of researchers to collaborate.
SAMC seeks to provide expert consultation in a clear, disarming manner.
S.A.M.C., Inc. has helped researchers in many fields: biomedical, marketing research, the social sciences, business productivity and others. We give the same attention to clients whether they require relatively simple tests or a fairly complex multivariate method. Be advised that we do not subcontract work.
Turnaround Time for Statistics and Research Services
Most clients want to have an idea of when their results will be
prepared, which is understandable. While there is no quick blanket
answer that applies to all tasks (we work on numerous multi-year
grants), we can say that the vast majority of our work for a specific
analysis is completed within seven to ten business days. Many of our
clients have received their results in only a few days.
Qualifications for SAMC Statisticians
Statistical Analysis and Measurement Consultants, Inc., is run by
Rudolph V. Richichi, Jr., Ph.D., who is a gradu
ate of the State
University of New York at Albany with a specialization in applied
statistics. He specializes in both univariate and multivariate data
analysis in both experimental and exploratory research designs. He has
taught graduate level statistics courses at the State University of New
York at Albany, Seton Hall University, and Monmouth University. Please
see the
publications section for a sampling of our scientific
contributions.
Do I Need To Buy Software?
Not for statistical analysis. We own all our own software and can
handle many types of data analysis. We rarely come across research
designs that cannot be accommodated by one of our software packages. We
assume the client has access to standard word processing and spreadsheet
software (such as Word and Excel).
Our consulting fee (which may include help with research design, data entry, data analysis, and a written summary of the results) is often less than the price of the software alone. Software companies (SPSS, SAS, Minitab, and those that are designed to do statistical analysis in excel, etc.) frequently have a base program for a certain price and numerous add-on's, not to mention a new "version" every year. It is cost effective to have Statistical Analysis and Measurement Consultants provide research design and statistical analysis services.
Hall of Shame
Working primarily over the internet has been a fantastic experience. We have met researchers from all over the world and have been exposed to an extremely broad range of research topics. Unfortunately, this open access has also brought out some questionable, if not lunatic fringe, inquiries to our site.
We received a call from an individual who gave vague ideas for a research project. When pressed, he asked if we had ever done work with a psychic.
We do original scientific research. You would think a psychic would have known that.
One person wanted to know if there was a way to predict the lottery. He reasoned that most winning numbers never came up before, so we should be able to predict which numbers are more likely in the future.
Actually, we get lottery inquiries more often than you might think.
An apparently educated person in the financial industry wanted us to predict the stock market. The idea was that researchers in the financial world all pretty much use the same numerical indices, so why can’t we come up with our own numerical values to do a better job of prediction over time.
If it were this simple, you would think mutual fund managers would have done it by now.
Another person had an idea that was outside the realm of scientific possibility and we suggested that there was no known scientific way to quantify it. They suggested that we develop a new statistic and charge royalties every time other statisticians used the novel statistic.
Imagine sending the estate of John Tukey a few bucks to run post-hoc tests.
Okay, this next one is a bit technical. A graduate student contacts us, clearly upset. A member of their dissertation committee rejected their results from a structural equation model. What was the reason? The student presented the results of a Chi-square test in the results. The committee member said that Chi-square is the wrong test because Chi-squares are used when variables are categorical.
It is always difficult to tell graduate students that they know more about the analysis than their committee members. This, too, happens more often than you would think.
We received an email warning us about the end of days, with a date, and that we need to be prepared. If we want answers in this life, the only true answers come from God, not science. We should contact them so that we can see the light. And so on.
The date came and went. This was not surprising.