Literature Index

A major objective of the University of Transkei Research Resource Centre is to enable staff and students to acquire research knowledge and skills. This is intended to empower faculty to initiate quality research projects and participate effectively in ongoing research. We recognised that research skills of staff and students ranged from none to well-experienced. In addressing different needs we found that an effective method was to relate all activities to the context of the research and where possible to specific research projects. Importantly we endeavoured to anticipate needs and afforded researchers with face-to-face sessions, a number of workshops, short courses and research seminars. This paper discusses how the consultancy process is used to empower social science researchers.

At Sonoma State University, we offer a 2-hour per week class in Statistical Consulting. All our statistics majors must take the class twice, and other students may also take the class. The only prerequisite for the class is a semester of Elementary Statistics. This leads to a very varied class, in terms of statistical ability and experience. Our clients at the Statistical Consulting Center are largely from two sources, namely other departments at the university, and local non-profit organizations. Both these sources typically have projects that are suitable for our consulting class, so that both unsophisticated and advanced students can benefit from it. I will present some examples of these projects, and discuss the perhaps surprisingly high levels of satisfaction of the students, in terms of their learning objectives, and of the clients, in terms of their needs. Faculty also enjoy teaching the class, and the university gets much positive publicity in the community.

Recent fascinating developments of information and telecommunication technology have made vast amounts of data available to many millions throughout the world. This and the widespread increased use of conceptually and methodologically complex analytical procedures and tools require appropriate training of users. The paper therefore focuses on the question how the modern information and telecommunication technology could increase the quality and efficiency of statistical training at the workplace from learners' point of view. In this framework, general pedagogical issues and challenges of distance learning in a modern e-environment are addressed, and a model of a general technology-based course is proposed. Assessment of the present state of affairs is based on an extensive survey of technology-based statistical courses, and followed by an identification and discussion of future challenges in the field.

The main aim of this paper is to assess the present position regarding the extent of the availability of statistical education and training facilities in the developing countries of the ESCAP region and to discuss some of the main problems being faced by these countries in developing the statistical manpower needed in the context of the development efforts. Early developments in the fields of statistical education and statistical training are briefly covered in the section 'Early Developments' and university education in statistics, regional and national training facilities are taken up in the sections 'University Education in Statistics', 'Regional Training Centers' and 'National Training Centers'; teaching of statistics in schools is briefly discussed in the section 'Concluding Remarks'. No attempt is made in this paper to review or evaluate the design and contents of the courses offered by the universities, institutes and training centers in the region.