SSC 2009 Vancouver

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Case Studies 2009

Case Studies in Data Analysis sessions will be held at the SSC Meeting in Vancouver May 31 - June 3, 2009. The case studies are intended for teams of graduate and senior undergraduate students working either with or without faculty mentors. (See the Guidelines for Mentors.) Each participating team will choose to analyse one of the two data sets described below and the teams will present summaries of the methods they used and the results of their analyses in a poster presentation session at the meeting.

One award will be presented for the best case study poster in each of the two case studies. The Committee of the Award for Case Studies in Data Analysis will consider the quality of both the analysis of the data and the presentation of the results in reaching its decision. The value of the award for each case study in the 2009 competition is $500. This is to be shared equally among the participants of each winning team. The Committee of the Award for Case Studies in Data Analysis reserves the right to decline to make an award for a given case study if numbers of entries are insufficient. For further information about the awards, please contact Kevin J. Keen.

All presentations this year will be posters. A subject-matter expert will prepare a poster introducing each case study, so teams presenting their analyses do not have to repeat the background information.

If you would like to participate, contact Alison Gibbs. She will need to know the list of names for your team and the university that you represent. She will also need to know if you are giving any other oral or poster presentations at the meeting so that we can avoid scheduling conflicts. The deadline for contacting Alison is March 15, 2009.

You will doubtless have questions once you start working with the data. You can ask; you don’t have to guess the answer! You can direct your questions to Alison and she will answer what she can and forward other questions to the data donors. She will put answers to frequently-asked questions on the web pages. You are free to submit questions in either English or French.

Case Studies

Click on the titles below for full information about the case studies.

Case Study 1: The Effects of Climate on the Growth of Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole pine is an important commercial species in British Columbia, used for lumber, poles, railroad ties, furniture, cabinetry, and construction timbers. In order to predict how lodgepole pine trees will grow and accumulate wood over time, the use of high resolution satellite images is under consideration. However, for these images to be useful, the relationships between the crown properties and the wood properties must be understood. In this case study, students will examine the effects of climate variables, particularly temperature and precipitation, on these relationships.

Case Study 2: Proteomic Biomarkers for Disease Status

Patients with a particular disease require urgent and aggressive treatment when their disease is in its active state, so it is important to know if their disease is active or inactive. The current method for determining the status of the disease is both invasive and expensive. Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins in blood. In this case study, students will examine whether the information from proteomic analysis of blood samples can be used to identify whether the samples are from active or inactive patients.

Contact information

Organizer:

Alison Gibbs
Department of Statistics
University of Toronto
Telephone: (416) 946-7589
E-mail: alison.gibbs@utoronto.ca

Chair of the Committee of the Award for Case Studies in Data Analysis:

Kevin J. Keen
Mathematics
University of Northern British Columbia
Telelphone: (250) 960-5014
E-mail: keenk@unbc.ca

Guidelines for Mentors:

The SSC Case Studies in Data Analysis exist for participation by teams of undergraduate and/or graduate students. All participating teams, if they desire, may recruit a non-student mentor, for example, a faculty member. In order to have the ability to fairly evaluate the work of the student teams, student teams and non-student mentors are encouraged to consider the following guidelines for their participation.

1. Role of the student team: The approach to the case study should be planned, developed, and executed primarily by the student team. The student team also has responsibility for the organization and presentation of its findings.
2. Role of the mentor: The mentor should encourage and support the student team. This may include listening to ideas, suggesting references, and asking questions to stimulate consideration of additional aspects of the case study. To be fair to all participating teams, the mentor should not take an active role in the development of the statistical analyses.

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