FAQ for STAT-L / SCI.STAT.CONSULT
*********************************************************************
This FAQ was compiled by Steve Simon.
*** FAQ for STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT ***
Last revised: November 4, 1996
This FAQ is posted twice a month to STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT.
Thanks to the efforts of David Ronis, it can also be found at
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dronis/statfaq.htm
It is also posted at
http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/kmilind/stat-l.faq.html
and
http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/document.html
You are welcome to post this FAQ at other web sites. Please
don't modify it without my permission, and please let me know
where you are posting it.
Table of contents
1 What is STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT?
2 What are other related listserv/usenet groups?
3 How are STAT-L and SCI.STAT.CONSULT related?
4 How do I know that my message got posted?
5 How do I use LISTSERV to...
6 How do I get the archives of STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT?
7 How can I contact the ASA, Biometric Society, or IMS?
8 How can I contact the major statistics software vendors?
9 What is Statlib?
10 Where can I find free/shareware statistical software?
11 What statistics resources can be found on the web?
12 What should I do about these "Spams"?
13 What is the answer to the Monty Hall problem?
14 Acknowledgments
1 What is STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT?
STAT-L and SCI.STAT.CONSULT are a combined LISTSERV/USENET
group for the discussion of statistical consulting issues.
We discuss statistical issues of all levels of difficulty,
as well as statistical education, the practice of
statistical consulting, and other related topics. We also
like to debate some of the more controversial issues in
Statistics like the validity of the statistical models used
in the Bell Curve book and the pitfalls of stepwise
regression models.
Be sure to put your name and e-mail address at the end of
your message. Some people have e-mail systems that strip
headers from a message, making it impossible for them to
reply directly to you.
If you have a question about a particular statistics
package, you will probably get a faster and more accurate
answer by posting the question on the list that specializes
in a particular package (e.g., SAS-L/COMP.SOFT-SYS.SAS or
S-NEWS).
We appreciate questions at a levels from beginner to expert.
Sometimes, the beginner questions lead to some interesting
discussions as to the subtle nuances in statistical
consulting.
If you want advice on how to analyze some data, please
include some context as to what your data means and what you
are trying to investigate. No one can answer a question well
that only says "Listed below is some data. How do I analyze
it?"
Be careful about advice on STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT. You'll
find many people who are glad to help you, but you must
realize the serious limitations of e-mail. There is no
adequate substitute for getting advice face-to-face with a
professional, especially BEFORE collecting any data and
BEFORE performing any experiments. Even the most experienced
and wise Statisticians will be unable to make sense out of a
poorly designed study.
There are three types of messages that we discourage. First,
try to avoid any overly commercial pitches, including
posting your resume. On the other hand, we do like to hear
about job openings, especially ones that list starting
salaries so we can bemoan how little we make on our current
jobs. Postings of upcoming conferences are also acceptable.
Second, don't post your homework questions on here, even if
you have permission to do so from your teacher. On the other
hand, asking for recommendations on books for beginners is
fine.
Third, while we enjoy a spirited debate, please refrain from
flaming and personal attacks. Although we have occasional
lapses, this list has a generally high level of civility and
politeness. Let's keep it that way.
Here's some additional advice from Richard Ulrich for
SCI.STAT.CONSULT folks.
If you are going to CROSS-POST to several groups, PLEASE send
just one message in which you LIST THE SEVERAL GROUPS in the
header.
i) That way, when someone writes a response, it will show
up in EACH group where the question could be read, not just
in one.
ii) That way, when a person reads with a Threaded-newsreader,
he will see your message just ONCE, instead of over and over.
2 What are other related LISTSERV/USENET groups?
Mailing lists for specific software packages (e.g., BMDP-L,
S-NEWS, SAS-L) are covered in section 8.
Note: Mike Fuller is maintaining a list of statistics
lists, which probably is more accurate than what I have
developed below. Here is an excerpt from one of his
e-mails:
List of Statistics Lists
Version 3.21 of 11 July 1996
This is the latest version of my list of statistics lists;
help with adding to, correcting, or improving it would be
much appreciated.
A number of these lists are linked to newsgroups, either in
the sci.stat.* series or, for software packages, the
comp.soft-sys.* series. Some people may prefer reading news
to email, particularly on groups with a lot of traffic.
The latest version of this list is always available as
follows. Send a one line email message to
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
send minitab list-of-lists
The list is kept with the files of the minitab list simply
for my convenience, as the list owner of the minitab list
is me.
Alternatively, this list can be viewed from the Mailbase
World Wide Web pages. The current page has the URL
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists-k-o/minitab/files/list-of-lists
If you wish to provide a hyperlink to this page from
elsewhere, please let me know that you have done so. This
will help me to guage the level of interest in this resource.
Links within the Mailbase system might change, so it is also
worth mentioning the main page from which links exist to the
Minitab list and hence to this file. This has the URL
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/welcome.html
It is also worth mentioning the following WWW page which
provides links to a great variety of information about
Statistics Resources on the Web. It is maintained by the
Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Statistics at
Glasgow University. The URL is
http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/cti/links_stats.html
Another web source of Statistics related lists/newsgroups can
be found at
http://www.minitab.com/maillist.htm
SPECIAL WARNING!!!
Please, please, please note that subscription requests go to
the LISTSERV or MAILBASE address. If you send a subscription
request to the list itself, it will be read by hundreds or
thousands of people, none of whom can get you subscribed.
Some of these people will be annoyed enough at your naivete
that they will introduce you to a concept known as "flaming".
ALBERT-GIFI
The Albert Gifi mailing list discusses correspondence
analysis, multidimensional scaling, nonlinear
multivariate analysis, and optimal scaling.
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@JULIA.MATH.UCLA.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe ALBERT-GIFI First-name Last-name
Post messages to: ALBERT-GIFI@JULIA.MATH.UCLA.EDU
ALLSTAT
Discussions on this list are similar to
STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT, but there is a decidedly
British flavor to ALLSTAT and a more U.S. flavor to
STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT. This is particularly
noticeable in the postings of meetings.
ALLSTAT is a Mailbase system so it uses a slightly
different syntax than the LISTSERV system.
Subscriptions to: MAILBASE@MAILBASE.AC.UK
How to subscribe: subscribe ALLSTAT
Post messages to: ALLSTAT@MAILBASE.AC.UK
Note: Several people tell me that MAILBASE does not
like it when you include your name in the SUBSCRIBE
command.
CRSP-L
The following is taken from the webb site
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/class/gsb/crsp/CRSP-L/
Help With Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) Data Bases
CRSP is the Center for Research in Security Prices at the
University of Chicago, but it commonly refers to the database
files which that center distributes. Until recently,
researchers requiring CRSP data have accessed it using
FORTRAN programs. This email list will provide a forum for
users and administrators to help one another with SAS,
FORTRAN, Splus and other programs which install, extract, or
utilize CRSP data. Discussion of Compustat, IBES, and
other financial databases is also welcome. If your question may
have been addressed previously, please check the CRSP-L FAQ
maintained by Don Cram at
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/class/gsb/crsp/CRSP-L/
before posting.
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU
How to subscribe: sub CRSP-L First-name Last-name
Post messages to: CRSP-L@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU
EDSTAT-L/SCI.STAT.EDU
This can also be found under bit.listserv.edstat-l.
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@JSE.STAT.NCSU.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe EDSTAT-L Firstname Lastname
Post messages to: EDSTAT-L@JSE.STAT.NCSU.EDU
MULTILEVEL
This list is for people using multilevel analysis
(multilevel modeling; hierarchical data analysis) and
any associated software (e.g. MLn, HLM, VARCL, GENMOD).
It aims to promote discussion, mutual support, and the
spread of information (e.g. conferences, workshops, new
software).
MULTILEVEL is a MAILBASE system so it uses a slightly
different syntax than the LISTSERV system.
Subscriptions to: MAILBASE@MAILBASE.AC.UK
How to subscribe: subscribe MULTILEVEL first-name last-name
Post messages to: MAILBASE@MAILBASE.AC.UK
SCI.STAT.MATH
A more mathematical flavor can be found on
SCI.STAT.MATH, which sad to say, is not mirrored to any
LISTSERVer.
SEMNET
Researchers who study or apply structural equation
modeling methods may be interested in an electronic
mail network called SEMNET. Operating over the Internet
computer network, SEMNET is an open forum for ideas and
questions about the methodology that includes analysis
of covariance structures, path analysis, and
confirmatory factor analysis. SEMNET bridges the gaps
between users, between disciplines, and between
conferences. SEMNET was founded in February 1993. As
of April 1995, SEMNET had over 500 subscribers
worldwide.
SEMNET is for sharing ideas about this methodology with
other interested researchers. SEMNET is also for
researchers who are just learning (or re-learning)
about structural equation modeling, or who are facing
problems in applying these techniques to their own
research.
SEMNET maintains an FAQ on:
http://www.gsu.edu/~mkteer/semfaq.html
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU
How to subscribe: sub SEMNET first-name last-name
Post messages to: SEMNET@UA1VM.UA.EDU
3 How are STAT-L and SCI.STAT.CONSULT related?
Through the magic of Internet, any message posted on
SCI.STAT.CONSULT also appears on STAT-L. Any message posted
on STAT-L appears on SCI.STAT.CONSULT. So you can follow all
the fascinating questions and answers using either system.
We have had many anecdotal reports of messages posted on
STAT-L not appearing on SCI.STAT.CONSULT. Bob Wheeler
offers the following comment:
The problem is real and is caused by the settings of
expiration dates on news items. Local machines have limited
space to store items, and so those older than some given
date are discarded. Since messages bounce around the
Internet before arriving at a local machine, they are
sometimes DOA (deleted on arrival) because they are older
than the local expiration setting. It can also happen that
the local machine subscribes to a service and the service
deletes items before forwarding -- thus the local manager
sometimes has no control over the problem, other than to
use a different service.
4 How do I know that my message got posted?
First of all, be patient. It takes a while for your message to
be posted. Internet is faster than the Post Office, but it isn't
always instantaneous. There's nothing more annoying than seeing
the same messages posted again and again in a half hour time period
by people who are unsure whether their messages got through.
Please wait half a day or more before panicking.
Second, if you are having trouble posting, it is more likely than
not a local problem. Check with your help desk or other local
resource.
Third, No matter where you post your message from, if the message
gets through, it will be added to two very nice USENET archives:
http://altavista.digital.com
and
http://www.dejanews.com
You can search for your message using the subject line or
a reasonably unique phrase in the message itself. Again, this
system is not instantaneous. Wait half a day or more before
searching for your message.
Some people may wish to prevent their postings from being added
to these databases. If your posting contains an X-Header looking
like x-no-archive: yes or if you place x-no-archive: yes as the
first line of the body text of your message, then your message
not be archived.
You could also search the archives of STAT-L (see below for
details), but I do not know how frequently the archives are
updated.
Fourth, if you are using SCI.STAT.CONSULT, or if you are using
the DIGEST option of STAT-L, then you will eventually see a
copy of your message, if it got posted.
On the other hand, if you receive individual messages rather
than the digest from STAT-L, you will not see your own message
when it is posted. The presumption is that you read it when
you wrote it, so why would you want to see it again? You can
change this default in two ways.
Send a e-mail to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA with a one line
message:
SET STAT-L REPRO
to inform STAT-L that you wish it to send you back a copy
of any message you send in.
Send e-mail to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA with a one line
message:
SET STAT-L ACK
to inform STAT-L that you wish it to send a brief
acknowledgment that your message has been sent to the list.
If you want to go back to the default, send e-mail to
LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA with a one line message:
SET STAT-L NOREPRO
Please note that all of these commands go to LISTSERV and
not to STAT-L.
If you are using SCI.STAT.CONSULT, there is a place where you
can practice sending test messages (MISC.TEST or ALT.TEST).
If you are a beginner, don't post to SCI.STAT.CONSULT until
after you are comfortable posting to one of these test groups.
Finally, please note that not every question posted on
STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT gets an answer. No one is getting paid
for their time, so you need to appeal to their curiosity or
their altruism. If no one answered your question, maybe you
need to ask the question differently?
5 How do I use LISTSERV to...
Subscribe to STAT-L?
First things first. If you are using SCI.STAT.CONSULT,
your USENET reader software should have a menu pick or
a command that will allow you to subscribe to
SCI.STAT.CONSULT. Every reader is different, so please
consult your help file or your local computer guru.
To subscribe to STAT-L, send a message to
LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA with a single line:
SUB STAT-L First-name Last-name
in the body of the text.
Please be sure that you send the message to
LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA and not to STAT-L@VM1.MCGILL.CA.
If you send your subscription request to STAT-L,
hundreds of people will see your message and none of
them will be able to subscribe you to the list. Some in
fact will flame you for not reading these instructions
more carefully.
It's sort of like a newspaper which has a circulation
desk and a letters-to-the-editor desk. If you want to
start delivery of the paper you send it to the
circulation desk. If you want to start delivery of
STAT-L, you send the request to LISTSERV. Sending a
subscription request to STAT-L is like sending a letter
to the editor that reads "Please start delivery of the
Sunday paper to 1313 Mockingbird Lane".
Get the digest option turned on/off?
If you have no strong preference, the digest option
(multiple messages compiled into a single mailing,
usually daily) is less burdensome on Internet and
creates fewer bounced messages for the list
administrator to deal with. The default when you sign
up is for the digest option.
To cancel digest format and to receive the list as
separate mailings, send the command
SET STAT-L MAIL
to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA.
To receive the list in digest format, send the command
SET STAT-L DIGEST
in the body of a message to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA.
Again, please be sure that you send all of these types
of messages to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA and not to
STAT-L@VM1.MCGILL.CA.
Obtain a list of subscribers to STAT-L?
Send the command
REVIEW STAT-L F=MAIL
to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA or to sort by name send the
command
REVIEW STAT-L BY NAME F=MAIL
or to sort by country send the command
REVIEW STAT-L BY COUNTRY F=MAIL
This does not include subscribers to SCI.STAT.CONSULT,
as they do not subscribe to the list the same way. I
know of no way to obtain the list of subscribers to
SCI.STAT.CONSULT.
Keep my name off of the list of subscribers
Send the a message to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA with a
line in the body of the message reading
SET STAT-L CONCEAL YES
To reverse this, send the command
SET STAT-L CONCEAL NO
Stop mail from STAT-L (temporarily or permanently)?
Send a message to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA (again, please
don't send the message to STAT-L@VM1.MCGILL.CA). To
signoff permanently, include the line
UNSUBSCRIBE STAT-L
in the body of the message. To temporarily suspend
mail, use the line
SET STAT-L NOMAIL
and when you are ready to resume reading, use the line
SET STAT-L MAIL
or
SET listname DIGEST
depending on your preference for individual messages
versus a daily digest.
What if my initial signoff command doesn't work
This happens sometimes, particularly if your e-mail
address changes, even slightly. I would recommend that
you get a list of subscribers and see how your e-mail
address looks to the system (see above for details).
Some mail systems (like ELM) allow you to change the
FROM field of a message. If your mail system supports
this, then try sending a message to LISTSERV and change
the FROM field so it looks like it came from the
original address.
You could also ask your system administrator to create
a temporary (or permanent) alias name for you for
outbound messages (including the necessary deviant
domain part).
If none of the above works, or if it seems too
complicated, don't panic. Every list has a human owner
who can go in and unsubscribe you manually. You can
find the e-mail address of the list owner on the same
list of subscribers that you just got (again, see
above).
When I last checked in August 1995, the list owner was
* OWNER= MICHAEL@VM1.MCGILL.CA
(Michael Walsh, McGill University)
* (514-398-3680)
The key thing to remember here is that only the list
owner can help you with this. Sending a message to
STAT-L will not help much unless the list owner happens
to be following STAT-L right at that moment. Send a
message directly to the list owner, explaining your
problem. The list owner will manually unsubscribe you
from STAT-L.
6 How do I get the archives of STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT?
The are three ways to get archives of
STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT.
First, the LISTSERV software for STAT-L maintains monthly
archive files. To obtain a listing of these file names,
send the command
INDEX STAT-L
to LISTSERV.VM1.MCGILL.CA, and to retrieve an archive file
send the command
GET filename filetype F=MAIL
You can also search the archives for keywords
For a full description of LISTSERV search functions, send
the command
GET LISTDB MEMO F=MAIL
to LISTSERV@UMINN1.BITNET.
You can also use GOPHER to search the archives. Point your
gopher software to jse.stat.ncsu, or set your web browser to
gopher://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/11/othergroups/statl/
7 How can I contact the ASA, Biometric Society, or IMS?
American Statistical Association
1429 Duke St.
Alexandria, VA 22314-3402
Tel: 703-684-1221
FAX: 703-684-2036
E-M: asasinfo@amstat.org
Web: http://www.amstat.org
The International Biometric Society
808 17th Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006-3910
Tel: 202-223-9669
FAX: 202-223-9569
E-M: 75703.1407@compuserve.com
Web: http://www.stat.uga.edu/~lynne/symposium/biometric.html
Institute of Mathematical Statistics
3401 Investment Boulevard, Suite 7
Hayward, CA 94545
Tel: 510-783-8141 (Hazel Lowery)
FAX: 510-783-4131
E-M: HLLIMS@stat.berkeley.edu
Web: http://www.stat.ucla.edu/ims/
8 How can I contact the major statistics software vendors?
Many of these companies have numerous locations and
international distributors. I have only listed corporate
headquarters to save space. If you can, check out the web
site to get more detailed information.
Also please bear in mind that mergers and other business
activity may quickly make parts of this list obsolete.
Finally, I need to repeat my earlier plea about listservers.
Please, please, please note that subscription requests go to
the LISTSERV or MAILBASE or MAJORDOMO address.
APTECH SYSTEMS INC. (GAUSS)
Aptech Systems, Inc.
23804 SE Kent-Kangley Road
Maple Valley, WA 98038 USA
Tel: 206-432-7855
FAX: 206-432-7832
E-M: support@aptech.com (support)
info@aptech.com (sales information)
GAUSS mailing list:
Subscriptions to: MAJORDOMO@ECO.UTEXAS.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe GAUSSIANS
Post messages to: GAUSSIANS@ECO.UTEXAS.EDU
CIVILIZED SOFTWARE (MLAB)
Web: http://www.civilized.com
CONCEPTUAL SOFTWARE INC. (DBMS/COPY)
Conceptual Software Inc.
9660 Hillcroft # 510
Houston, TX 77096.
DATA DESCRIPTION, INC. (DATADESK)
Data Description, Inc.
Box 4555
Ithaca, NY 14853
Tel: (607) 257-1000
FAX: (607) 257-4146
E-M: datadesk@datadesk.com
DataMost Corp. (STATMOST)
Web: http://www.datamost.com
MATHSOFT (MATHCAD)
MathSoft, Inc.
101 Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
Tel: 617 577-1017
970-339-7119 (Support, daily from 9am to 9pm EST)
800-MATHCAD (Sales, US or Canada)
44-131-451-6720 (Sales outside the US/Canada)
Fax: 617 577-8829
Web: http://www.mathsoft.com
E-M: ideas@mathsoft.com (comments and suggestions)
support@mathsoft.com (Support, US or Canada)
help@mathsoft.com (Support outside US/Canada)
sales-info@mathsoft.com (Sales, US or Canada)
int-info@mathsoft.com (Sales outside US/Canada)
MATHWORKS (MATLAB)
The MathWorks, Inc.
24 Prime Park Way
Natick, MA 01760-1500
Tel: (508) 653-1415
Fax: (508) 653-2997
Web: http://www.mathworks.com/home.html
E-M: info@mathworks.com (Sales, pricing, information)
support@mathworks.com (Technical support)
bugs@mathworks.com (Bug reports)
suggest@mathworks.com (Product suggestions)
service@mathworks.com (Service)
MINITAB INC.
Minitab Inc.
3081 Enterprise Drive
State College, PA 16801
Tel: 814 238-3280
Fax: 814 238-4383
Web: http://www.minitab.com
E-M: sales@minitab.com
NCSS Statistical Software (NCSS, PASS)
Web: http://www.ncss.com
PALISADE CORPORATION (@RISK)
Web: http://www.palisade.com
RESAMPLINGS STATS
Web: http://www.statistics.com
E-M: stats@cais.com
SAS INSTITUTE (JMP, SAS)
SAS Institute Inc.
SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513
Tel: 919 677-8000
919 677-8008 (JMP technical support)
919 677-8000, ext 5071 (JMP sales)
Fax: 919 677-8123
Web: http://www.sas.com
ftp: ftp://ftp.sas.com
E-M: corpcom@unx.sas.com (Corporate Communications)
sasedu@vm.sas.com (Education)
eurwww@mvs.sas.com (European Offices)
pubs@unx.sas.com (Publications)
software@sas.sas.com (Sales and Marketing)
bussol@unx.sas.com (Business Solutions Division)
sasblb2@vm.sas.com (jmp-sales)
JMP mailing list:
Subscriptions to: MAJORDOMO@WUBIO.WUSTL.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe JMP-L
Post messages to: JMP-L@WUBIOS.WUSTL.EDU
SAS mailing list:
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe SAS-L First-name Last-name
Post messages to: SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
SAS Technical Support News
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@VM.SAS.COM
How to subscribe: subscribe TSNEWS-L First-name Last-name
Post messages to: Messages posted by SAS Institute only
SCIENTIFIC CONSULTING INC (PCNONLIN)
E-M: 75450.3171@compuserve.com
SPSS Inc. (BMDP, SPSS, Systat)
SPSS, Inc.
444 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago IL 60611
Tel: 312 329-3410
800 543-2185
312-494-3283 (SYSTAT Technical Support)
Fax: 312/329-3668
BBS: 312/836-1900 (8/N/1)
ftp: ftp.spss.com
E-M: support@spss.com
BMDP mailing list:
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA
How to subscribe: sub BMDP-L Firstname Lastname
Post messages to: BMDP-L@VM1.MCGILL.CA
SPSS mailing list:
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
How to subscribe: sub SPSSX-L Firstname Lastname
Post messages to: SPSSX-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
SYSTAT mailing list:
Subscriptions to: LISTSERV@SPSS.COM
How to subscribe: sub SYSTAT-L Firstname Lastname
Post messages to: SYSTAT-L@SPSS.COM
STATA CORPORATION
Stata Corporation
702 University Drive East
College Station, Texas 77840
Tel: 409-696-4600
800-STATA-PC
Fax: 409-696-4601
E-M: stata@stata.com
STATA mailing list:
Subscriptions to: LISTPROC@DSG.HARVARD.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe STATALIST First-name Last-name
Post messages to: STATALIST@DSG.HARVARD.EDU
STATISTICAL SCIENCES (S-PLUS)
Statistical Sciences, Suite 500
1700 Westlake Avenue N.
Seattle WA 98109-9891
Tel: (206) 283-8802 (business)
(800) 569-0123 (sales)
Fax: (206) 283-6310
Web: http://www.statsci.com/
E-M: sales@statsci.com (Sales)
support@statsci.com (Support)
mktg@statsci.com (Marketing)
S-plus mailing list:
Subscriptions to: S-NEWS-REQUEST@UTSTAT.TORONTO.EDU
How to subscribe: subscribe
Post messages to: S-NEWS@UTSTAT.TORONTO.EDU
Also check out the parent company, Mathsoft.
STATISTICS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY RESEARCH CORPORATION (EGRET)
Tel: 206-632-3014
FAX: 206-547-4140
E-M: rhm@ms.washington.edu
STATSOFT (STATISTICA)
StatSoft, Inc.
2300 East 14th Street
Tulsa, OK, USA 74104-4442
Tel: (918) 749-1119
Fax: (918) 749-2217
Web: http://www.statsoftinc.com
E-M: info@statsoftinc.com
UNISTAT
Web: http://www.unistat.com
9 What is Statlib?
Statlib is a system for distributing statistical software by
electronic mail and ftp.
To access the statlib server, send a mail message to
statlib@lib.stat.cmu.edu. For starters, do the following
on your machine:
mail statlib@lib.stat.cmu.edu
send index
send index from S
This will give you an index of the general and S-specific
material available on the statlib server.
Remember that the server does not understand English or any
other language. Your requests must be exactly in the form
specified.
Anonymous ftp access is also available. Type:
ftp lib.stat.cmu.edu
At the login prompt, type "statlib" (without the quotes)
and give your e-mail address as the password.
A `mirror' of the statlib archive in the UK will shortly be
available at unix.hensa.ac.uk:
mail netlib@unix.hensa.ac.uk
send browser
for further details of the mail server.
The site can also be accessed by telnet (log in as
'archive') or by anonymous ftp. The statlib archive is under
/statlib.
10 Where can I find free/shareware statistical software?
DONLP2
There have been recent updates to DONLP2, one of the few
high-quality programs for general nonlinear programming
problems available completely free over the net. There are
four different versions (in f77 resp f2c/cc and with exact
or numerical differentiation), there is a separate file
with three papers as postscript files and the user's guide
(README's and donlp2doc.txt file) have been updated last on
6-24-96. The URL is
ftp://plato.la.asu.edu/pub/donlp2
EPI-INFO/EPI-MAP
Epi-info is a series of computer programs produced by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
World Health Organization which provides public-domain
software for word processing, database and statistics
work in public health.
Epi-info can be downloaded at
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/epi/epiinfo.
Support is available through
Tel: (404) 728-0545
FAX: (404) 315-6440
E-M: EpiInfo@CDC1.CDC.GOV
There is a companion product, Epi-map, for geographic
mapping. It can be downloaded at
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/epi/epimap.
EI/EzI
EI and EzI implement the statistical methods, graphics, and
diagnostics in Gary King's forthcoming book _Reconstructing
Individual Behavior from Aggregate Data: A Solution to the
Ecological Inference Problem_ (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, April 1997; before April, a preprint and
summary are available at http://GKing.Harvard.Edu).
This software is available for free on the web at
http://GKing.Harvard.Edu
EI requires Gauss (from Aptech Systems) and is platform-
independent. EzI does not require Gauss, but runs only
under MS-DOS (or Windows 95 or OS/2), requires at least
8 MB of memory, and about 2MB of hard disk space.
GPOWER
GPower is a routine for study size and power, is made
available by a bunch of German cognitive scientists. It
does t-tests, F-tests and Chi-squared. It has a handy
routine for effect size calculation. It exists in Mac,
Mac+FPU, Powermac and BC-compatible versions, as well
as DOS. The web site is
More details can be found at the web site:
http://www.psychologie.uni-trier.de:8000/projects/gpower.html
MLn and other multilevel software packages
The web page
http://www.medent.umontreal.ca/multilevel
describes MLn and other shareware/freeware software for
multilevel
analyses.
MVSP
MVSP ver. 2.2, A MultiVariate Statistical Package provides
an inexpensive yet easy means of analysing your data. It
calculates principal components, principal coordinates and
correspondence analyses (including detrended CA), as well
as hierarchical cluster analysis using nineteen distance
or similarity measures and seven clustering strategies,
and diversity indices. The program is DOS based and
menu-driven; a Windows version is nearing completion.
MVSP shareware can be downloaded at
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~kovcomp/
ORIANA
Oriana for Windows ver. 1.0 calculates the special forms of
sample and inter-sample statistics required for circular
data (e.g. directional data or time of day). Oriana
calculates the circular mean, length of the mean vector,
circular standard deviation and standard error, 95% and 99%
confidence limits, and Rayleigh's test of uniformity for
each sample in your data file. Pairs of samples can be
compared with Watson's F-test for two circular means. The
overall distributions of two samples can be compared with
Chi-squared tests. The data for each sample can be
summarised with rose diagrams or circular histograms as
well as linear histograms. The individual observations can be
shown in raw data plots. Uniformity plots allow you to
assess whether the data depart from a uniform distribution.
ORIANA shareware can be downloaded at
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~kovcomp/
Prophet Software
PROPHET is a UNIX-based workstation software package that gives
researchers a wide range of computing capabilities. One of
PROPHET's greatest assets is its new graphical user interface.
Employing the latest advances in software technology, PROPHET
lets you store, analyze and present Data Tables, Graphs,
Statistical Analyses and Mathematical Modeling, and Sequence
Analyses with high-resolution graphics and multiple windows.
Anyone, from the computer-naive to the computer-sophisticate,
can learn to use it quickly and effectively.
More details can be found at the web site:
http://www-prophet.bbn.com/
STPLAN, RANLIST, WINDOWS, STATTAB, and SURVAN
The MD Anderson Center at the University of Texas makes
available a series of packages for both Mac and DOS which
are basic in terms of interface but well documented. These
include
STPLAN: Sample size and power
RANLIST: Randomization plans for clinical trials
WINDOWS (!) Kernel smoothing of dose-response curves
(smoothing of the relationship between a continuous
variable and a binary outcome)
STATTAB : Statistical tables
SURVAN: Survival analysis, including Cox regression
More details can be found at the web site:
http://odin.mdacc.tmc.edu/anonftp
VISTA (Visual Statistics System)
ViSta is a Visual Statistics system designed for a wide ranges
of users. It is particularly useful for those needing to learn
statistics, and to their teachers. ViSta is also designed to be
used for research and development in computational and graphical
statistics.
More details can be found at the web site:
http://forrest.psych.unc.edu/research/ViSta.html
XLISP-STAT
XLISP-STAT is a comprehensive statistical environment based
on the XLISP dialect of LISP. It runs on Amiga, Macintosh,
MS-DOS, MS-Windows, and X11. XLISP-STAT is highly extensible,
and many interesting extensions can be found at Statlib (see
above for details about Statlib).
XLISP-STAT can be downloaded at
ftp://ftp.stat.umn.edu/pub/xlispstat
There is a mailing list, stat-lisp-news. At the moment,
the list is maintained by hand.
Subscribe to: LISTSERV@JULIA.MATH.UCLA.EDU
How to subscribe: Ask to join and include your e-mail address
Post message to: stat-lisp-news@stat.umn.edu
WesVarPC from Westat
WesVarPC is a software package developed at Westat, Inc.,
that computes estimates and replicate variance estimates
from survey data collected using complex sampling and
estimation procedures. This flexible software supports a
wide range of complex sample designs, including multistage,
stratified, and unequal probability samples. The replicate
variance estimates can also reflect a number of estimation
schemes, such as poststratification or ratio estimation.
More details can be found at the Westat web site:
http://www.westat.com
There is a mailing list, WESVAR-L.
Subscriptions to: listserv@listserv.westat.com
How to subscribe: subscribe WESVAR-L
Post messages to: WESVAR-L@listserv.westat.com
11 What statistics resources can be found on the web?
This section does not include web sites described in the
"How can I contact the major statistics software vendors?"
section or in other parts of the FAQ.
There are lots of interesting statistics sites on the web,
and the web is growing and changing rapidly. Here are some
interesting sites, and you are welcome to send in other
good web sites. Pointers to other interesting sites may be
found, of course, on these web pages listed below.
Excel 2 SAS and Back
A guide to how to transfer information between programs,
including the comprehensive coverage of frequently requested
Excel to SAS translation.
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/class/gsb/excel2sas.html
Journal of Statistical Software
The Journal of Statistical Software is published
electronically on the UCLA Statistics Webserver. Access is
free, and unlimited. Articles are peer-reviewed. The URL is
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/journals/jss/
Lloyd's Warehouse of Economic Indicators.
http://www.rt66.com/~llubet
Measurement theory FAQ:
ftp://ftp.sas.com/pub/neural/measurement.html
Neural networks FAQ:
ftp://ftp.sas.com/pub/neural/FAQ.html
Power calculations (on-line)
There are two interesting sites which will let you calculate
power on-line, using web forms
http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Demos/power/
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~jbond/HTMLPOWER/index.html
Statistical power analysis software (Len Thomas):
http://www.interchg.ubc.ca/cacb/power
Note that this site used to be
http://conservation.forestry.ubc.ca:8080/cacb/power
Statistics on the Web (Clay Helberg):
This site has moved to
http://www.execpc.com/~helberg/statistics.html
The old site
http://maddog.fammed.wisc.edu/~helberg/statistics.html
contains just a pointer to the new web site.
Statistics servers and other links (The Institute of
Statistics and Decision Sciences):
http://www.isds.duke.edu/stats-sites.html
UCLA Statistics Textbook
This site has a lot of interactive pages using programs
like JavaScript, Perl, and xlisp-stat.
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/textbook/
Virtual Library of Statistics
http://www.stat.ufl.edu/vlib/statistics.html/
12 What should I do about these "Spams"?
A message distributed across multiple newsgroups or list
servers, usually for commercial purposes is known as a Spam.
Some examples of Spams that have hit STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT
are the green card lawyers, information about lonely women
in Russia, and blueprints of the original atom bomb.
First, keep in mind that often it is not the original spam
messages that are so conspicuous as potentially intrusive,
but rather the inevitable threads of discussion which seem
to result from them. Please do not complain to STAT-L about
a spam. The person who sent the spam is almost certainly not
a subscriber to STAT-L and will not see your complaint.
Other victims of the spam will see your complaint though,
which multiplies the annoying effect of the spam.
There are constructive steps that you can take to discourage
a spam but be assured that hundreds if not thousands of
people have probably already done this on your behalf. You
can do nothing and still be assured that others are looking
out for everyone's interests.
So the best course of action is to shrug off the message.
You might want to get in the practice of recognizing a
spam by its subject line and deleting it unread.
If you don't want to ignore the spam, try following the
advice given recently by Michael Palij:
In a situation such as this I suggest that you send E-mail
to the postmaster of the machine from which the offending
E-mail was sent, alerting the postmaster of the E-mail
message and including a copy of the E-mail message. If
for some reason postmaster@machine does not work send
E-mail to root@machine. Don't respond to the person of
the account that sent the E-mail nor mailbomb. The
reasons for this are:
1. The E-mail may have a forged name/account. That is,
the return address may be bogus or belong to someone who
has a legitimate account on the specific machine but who
did not send the E-mail.
2. Some people, if they want to punish a particular
person/account or machine, may send out a spam message
such as the one above, with the expectation that the
person's account or machine/site will be overwhelmed by
the reaction (yes, some people will send a copy of a
coredump or Moby Dick to the offending E-mail address in
the hope that it will crash the mail program). In this
way, an innocent person gets hurt because of a set-up.
3. Notifying the person who has responsibility for the
machine (i.e., the postmaster or root) will allow that
person to determine whether one of their real users
posted the message (and give that person a good talking
to) or whether their system was hacked and someone posted
the offending message as a prank/whatever.
In general, try to stay cool about such occurrences, E-mail
the postmaster to investigate the situation, and appreciate
that much more may be going on than you realize.
13 What is the answer to the Monty Hall problem?
There is a classic probability puzzle, which is called the
Monty Hall problem, or sometimes the envelope problem.
The Monty Hall problem can be stated as follows: A gameshow
host displays three closed doors. Behind one of the doors is
a car. The other two doors have goats behind them. You are
then asked to choose a door. After you have made your choice,
one of the remaining two doors is then opened by the host
(who knows what's behind the doors), revealing a goat. Will
switching your initial guess to the remaining door increase
your chances of guessing the door with the car?
The general consensus is that the probability of winning the
car is 1/3 if you don't switch and 2/3 if you do switch. But
there are some implicit assumptions in this problem that cause
a raging debate every time it appears on STAT-L.
There are at least thirty web sites that discuss this problem.
In particular, it appears in the SCI.MATH and REC.PUZZLES FAQs.
http://www.smartpages.com/faqs/sci-math-faq/montyhall/faq.html
http://jayhawk.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Mag/rec.puzzles/Puzzles/monty.hall.p
There is also a simulation based on this problem.
http://www.ram.org/computing/monty_hall.html
This problem is discussed in
Engel, E. and Venetoulias, A. (1991). Monty Hall's
probability puzzle. Chance, Vol 4, # 2, 6-9.
and
Selvin, S. (1975). A problem in probability, in
"Letters to the Editor," The American Statistician,
29, 67 and 134.
14 Acknowledgments
This list has grown thanks to the small and large
contributions of many people. Part of it was shamelessly
stolen from well written messages on STAT-L. Here is a
partial list of people who you should thank for directly or
indirectly contributing to this FAQ:
Gary Ash
Kenneth Benoit
Grant Blank
Jim Box
Benjamin Chan
Ronan Conroy
Donald Cram
Byron Davis
Barry DeCicco
Joe Dolgos
Emil Friedman
Mike Fuller
Timothy Green
Duane Griffin
Clay Helberg
Tim Hesterberg
Charles Kincaid
Warren Kovach
Jan de Leeuw
Lloyd Lubet
Haiko Luepsen
Hans Mittelmann
Brian Monsell
John Nash
Michael Palij
David Ronis
Warren Sarle
Ronald Schoenberg
Russell Schulz
Jim Steiger
Len Thomas
Richard Ulrich
Vittorio Viaggi
Meredith Warshaw
Bob Wheeler
Will Wheeler
John Whittington
Forest Young
Sara Young
If there are errors in this FAQ, they are probably my fault;
it is difficult to accurately transcibe all of the
information I have received, even with cut and paste. Please
send any corrections and additions. Complaints are
appreciated also, but please realize that I am doing this
on a volunteer effort, mostly during lunch breaks and after
work hours.
Steve Simon, Standard Disclaimer.
Office of Medical Research, Children's Mercy Hospital
2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO 64108
E-M: ssimon@cmh.edu TEL: 816-234-3963 FAX: 855-1703
Vision: The Children's Mercy Hospital commits to providing
quality pediatric medical care with service excellence and
efficiency to everyone we serve.
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