Project Planning: Including Statistics Simon French simon.french@warwick.ac.uk

Planning and Writing Research Proposals Develop an ‘elevator pitch’ first! Briefly write down the planned research objectives Write a one side lay outline of the planned research including a lay statement of the objectives. Decide look at the call for proposals or the requirements of a responsive mode process On the back of the lay description note: call requirements and dates, expected funding level, possible collaborators, your contact details & DATE the page. Use this elevator pitch to sell the project to HoD, other collaborators, RSS, etc.

What do you need to submit? Read all the details from the funder and understand what they are looking for. Download and inspect forms, etc. and check that you have access to all trivial data (Its not trivial an hour before submission) Is there an information meeting?

Plan the Proposal Writing Process Is there a submission deadline? Working backwards, when do you need to involve others? RSS HoD and other Dept. Admin Ethical approval? Internal peer review of draft? Preliminary notification to Funders? (Other) Collaborators

Plan the Research (1) Get together with your immediate collaborators Face to face Skype meetings 1-1 Prime them with the your lay project outline Flesh out the project, mindful of The level of funding The project length The calendar, etc. that may constrain where and when some of the research can be done.

Plan the Research (2) Version number and date all documents as you develop them. Plan the case for support before starting writing. If you have 6 pages, think about the relative length of each section and the key points to make in each section. Your lay elevator pitch will make a good basis for the introduction. Maybe plan project schedule and (rough) costs and schedule in Excel in parallel Continually check feasibility Be clear on potential impact, users, dissemination opportunities

All that is process … … but it is really the research idea and its development that matters. Doing the other stuff smooths things and frees time to focus on the research

Research Objectives & Methodology Continually refine and clarify research objectives, questions, hypotheses … What methodology and data will you use to address them? Why do this methodology and these data provide real information on them? Ensure the team have the right skills to apply the methods.

Why involve statisticians? Statistics lies at the kernel of The Scientific Method for projects that involve data It is not an add-on after the data has been collected Nor is it just knowing the software! Statistical analysis starts by asking whether the data really can inform on the objectives If they can, experimental design will help ensure that you collect sufficient data of sufficient quality Data management issues from collection to analysis to achieve Analysis of the data Presentation of the results.

Involvement in Project If the team really know how to do all this for their research methodology and data, then there is no need to involve a statistician However, getting the right statistician involved up front as a collaborator is important if you do need a statistician. RISCU can act as a clearing house if needed N.B. Do not assume Warwick has all the needed statistical skills – it is a much bigger subject than you think! [Worst solution: wait until you have collected the data, spent all the projects money, then pop over to the Statistics department and ask for help!]