For theses, dissertations and journal articles
Statistical consultancy for social and behavioural science research.
We help academics, postgraduate students and practitioner-researchers analyse their data, understand their results and draw conclusions they can defend.
Universities
Researchers from these universities have worked with us
The problem
One statistics course was never meant to carry your research
Most social science students take one statistics course as part of their degree. It teaches formulas more than decisions. By the time you design your own study, that course is years behind you.
01
“I haven’t done statistics since my undergrad.”
Many social scientists say learning statistics felt like learning a foreign language. That anxiety grows when your thesis depends on getting the statistics right.
02
“Which test should I use?”
You learnt how to calculate, not how to choose. Now the choice is yours, and your examiner will ask why you made it.
03
“Why doesn’t my data fit the analysis I planned?”
Decisions you made when designing the questionnaire can rule out analyses later. Most researchers find this out only once the data is in.
04
“What do these results actually mean?”
The software gives you a table of numbers. It doesn’t tell you what to write, or how to defend it to your supervisor or a reviewer.
Your course was designed to teach you “to recognise when a statistician is needed.” That moment is now.
North & Zewotir (2006), South African Journal of Higher Education 20(4)
The solution
We work through it with you
You bring the question and the data. We bring the statistics, and the research stays yours.
Missing values and outliers were screened before analysis, and the assumptions of each test were checked against the data. The analysis plan was agreed with the supervisor before any results were examined. The next chapter reports the results in the order of the research questions.
YOUR RESEARCH
47
Chapter 4
Results and Findings When We Work Through It with You
4.1
Statistics explained from the start
No question is too basic. You’ll leave each session able to explain the method yourself.
4.2
The right test, and why
We match the analysis to your question and your data. You’ll know why it fits, so you can defend the choice.
4.3
An analysis your data can support
If your data doesn’t fit the plan, we find the analysis it can support. If you haven’t collected yet, we check the questionnaire first.
4.4
Results you can write up and defend
We turn the output into plain-language findings. Then we go through the questions your supervisor or examiner is likely to ask.
YOUR RESEARCH
48
Chapter 5
Discussion
This chapter interprets the findings in light of the research questions and the literature reviewed in Chapter 2.
Why STATS-LAB
You’re the one who has to defend the results
The deadline is fixed, your supervisor’s comments are waiting, and the examiner will ask why you chose that test. It’s a lot to carry when statistics isn’t your field.
We’ve guided researchers through each of those moments, and our statisticians hold MA, PhD in social and behavioural science.
After Trafford & Leshem (2008), Stepping stones to achieving your doctorate
40+
researchers supported through a thesis or dissertation
60+
journal articles helped to publish
20+
workshops and online training
7+
years guiding researchers
“Roger is very experienced and very thorough in his analysis. He is well versed in the various programmes and knowledgeable about choosing the correct program for the required analysis. I can recommend Roger very highly.”
Cathy Austin
MBA graduate
“I learnt a lot from you in terms of stats brother, and it has been my leverage.”
Dr Nkululeko Fuyane
Lecturer, School of Business and Law, University of Brighton
The plan
Three steps to results you can defend and publish
Where are you now?
Planning your study
Analysing your data
Responding to feedback
Tell us about your study
Send your question, your plan or your data. We’ll tell you how we can help.
Book a consultationWork through it together
We choose the right analysis with you and explain each step as we go.
Defend your results
You write up findings you understand, ready for the questions your examiner or reviewers will ask.
Results you can defend and publish
Services
What we do
01 · Design
Research design
Sampling, power and instrument design, settled before you collect data so the analysis stands on something sound.
Sampling
Power analysis
02 · Measurement
Psychometrics and measurement
Scale development and validation, with reliability and validity reported the way examiners expect.
Psychometrics
CR · AVE · HTMT
03 · Analysis
Quantitative analysis
Descriptive, inferential and advanced modelling: EFA, CFA, SEM, PLS-SEM, mediation and moderation.
PLS-SEM
SEM
Regression
04 · Workshops
Workshops and training
Hands-on training for supervisors, students and research teams, from the fundamentals to PLS-SEM.
New
Workshops
Working with us
Clear about our role, careful with your data
Research ethics has three sides: what is right, what is permitted and what is done day to day. Each one protects you, your participants and your institution.
Here is where we stand on each, before you send us anything.
After Samuel, UKZN School of Education: ethics as a multi-dimensional issue
01 · Moral
Our role
The research stays yours. We guide and explain; you make the decisions.
What we do
Explain each method in plain language
Help you choose the right analysis and justify it
Check your questionnaire before you collect data
Help you interpret results and prepare for examiner questions
What we don’t do
Write your thesis, dissertation or chapters for you
Change, invent or remove data to get a result
Promise a particular result or p-value
02 · Legal
Approval and authorship
Agreed in writing, before any work starts.
Ethics approval
We work with data you collected after ethics approval.
Journal articles and authorship
For journal articles, we agree at the start whether our work is recognised in the acknowledgements or through co-authorship. We follow the ICMJE authorship criteria, so the decision rests on what we actually contribute.
03 · Operational
Your data
How your data is handled, from the moment you send it.
Before you send it
Ensure participants’ consent has been obtained
Once we have it
Kept confidential
Used only for your project
Handled in line with POPIA
Pricing
Choose the support you need
Buy a month of support when you need it. No contracts and no automatic renewal.
Essentials
Professional
Premium
Extra hours
Essentials
R3,499
for one month
Up to 6 hours in one month
Review of your analysis sections for statistical accuracy
Replies within 48 hours
Recommended
Professional
R5,999
for one month
Up to 12 hours in one month
Review of your analysis sections for statistical accuracy
Priority support, resolved by the next business day
Premium
R9,999
for one month
Up to 20 hours in one month
Review of your analysis sections for statistical accuracy
Priority support, resolved by the next business day
WhatsApp and text support in office hours
Extra hours
R650
an hour
One-off projects
Prefer a single project? We quote once we’ve seen your study. Typical starting prices:
Consultation
R450 per 30 minutes
Data cleaning and coding
from R1,500
Descriptive analysis
from R2,500
Questionnaire development
from R3,500
Inferential statistics
from R4,500
Advanced modelling: EFA, CFA, SEM
from R12,000
Client work
What changed for researchers we worked with
Each case is shared with the researcher’s written permission. We leave out names, topics, institutions and findings, and show what was hard, what we did and what changed.
Case 01 · MBA · Human resources
From survey data to a tested theory
PLS-SEM
Reliability and validity
Before
A theory-based questionnaire, three hypotheses to test, and two constructs that overlapped so closely the standard validity checks failed.
With STATS-LAB
We checked reliability and validity, refined the measurement model, then tested each hypothesised path in PLS-SEM. Every step came with the references to cite in her methods and results chapters.
After
“The analysis was also made very simple for me, a non-statistical person, to understand and translate into my dissertation.”
MBA graduate
Case 02 · PhD · Education
From chapters that didn’t fit to a study built for its analysis
PLS-SEM
Multigroup analysis
Before
Chapters 1 to 3 were written, but they didn’t set up the analysis she hoped to run or the results she hoped to report.
With STATS-LAB
We realigned the opening chapters with the analysis, tested six research objectives in PLS-SEM and compared two university settings with multigroup analysis. Then we turned the thesis into a journal article and worked through the reviewers’ comments.
After
Placeholder · awaiting exact wording from the client
The chapters now lead to the analysis, and an article from the thesis went back to the journal with every reviewer comment answered.
Case 03 · Master’s · Economics
From mismatched data to answers the chapters agree on
Correlation
Multiple regression
Before
Data spread across workbooks that didn’t match, research questions that didn’t line up with the analysis, and regression results without the tables and checks needed to interpret them.
With STATS-LAB
We reconciled the data files and helped reframe the research questions so the opening, method and results chapters matched. Then we checked the assumptions, ran the correlations and a multiple regression, and explained every table in plain language.
After
Placeholder · awaiting exact wording from the client
One consistent set of data, questions and results, with every table explained well enough to defend in the examination.
Get in touch
Have a dataset and a question? Let’s think it through.
Tell us about your study and your deadline. We’ll reply with a scoped plan and a clear quote.