PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (April 21, 2020) – The newly opened Center for Applied Statistics within the College of Juvenile Justice at Prairie View A&M University is offering students, faculty, and staff members a chance to strengthen their research through free statistics workshops and other services.
Goals of the center include:
- Strengthening interdisciplinary faculty research efforts at the university;
- Enhancing data analytics skills in applied statistics using statistical software;
- Assisting individuals and organizations in interpreting and communicating the results of data analysis and statistical tests; and
- Developing a certificate program in applied statistics.
“The university has graduate degree programs, dissertations and theses are often the products of these programs, some of which require the collection of quantitative data,” Peter Metofe, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and the center’s director, said. “The services offered by this center save students from having to pay someone outside of PVAMU for help in analyzing that data.”
The center opened in January and is temporarily located in the Don Clark building with its permanent location to be decided in the coming months. Outside organizations such as State agencies will pay a fee to the university for the center’s consulting services, and the center will also be pursuing external grants for additional funding.
“This center provides a service to the university, as well as to surrounding communities,” Dr. Metofe said. “The number of minority students with occupations in statistics has been historically low. This is a way to increase minority representation in statistics and methodology professions.”
Metofe (left) and Center for Applied Statistics co-founder Gbolahan Solomon Osho, Ph.D. (right)
“For faculty and students across campus, the center will address an important need,” Camille Gibson, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Juvenile Justice , added. “Being on the cutting edge in analysis tools is highly important.”
Students or teachers interested in consulting services for their research can call 936-261-5224 or email Dr. Metofe at pametofe@pvamu.edu to make an appointment.
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