Projects

Potential M.Sc. Projects

Approximate Bayesian methods

You can concentrate on theory or on practical problems, and may investigate any or all of: Markov chain Monte Carlo, numerical integration, asymptotic methods.

Bayesian survival analysis

There have been many different suggestions for Bayesian analysis of survival data (e.g. using time-series methods, splines, or simply priors added on to standard classical models).

Bootstrapping in S

You can use existing S functions (e.g. those by Efron & Tibshirani), and also create your own.

Statistics using 'J'

See if my description of J interests you - it is a powerful modern computer language, that lets one develop new ideas quickly. This project will involve your using J in any way you choose to attack any statistical problem(s) you choose.

1999 M.Sc. Dissertations

• 'Sequential Methods in Clinical Trials: Frequentist and Bayesian Approaches', Jutta Schraft.

1998 M.Sc. Dissertations

• 'Current Trends on Assessing Survival Models With Special Focus on Graphical Diagnostics', Stella Myronaki.

1997 M.Sc. Dissertations

• 'A Comparison of Several Bayesian and Non-Bayesian Methods of Inference Applied to the Achcar (1984) Cancer Patient Survival Data", Nicholas R. Parsons.

1996 M.Sc. Dissertations

• 'A Study on Veteran's Lung Cancer Data', Dilhari Attygale,
• 'The Bootstrap and the Wild Bootstrap in S', Axel Krebs,
• 'Bayesian Reliability Analysis: A Review and Current Trends', Ana Turrent.

1995 M.Sc. Dissertations

• 'The Analysis of Survival Data with Several End-Points', Sally Hunt,
• 'Survival Modeling and Analysis of Stanford Heart Data', Maria Economou.

Some pre-1995 M.Sc. Dissertations

• 'An Analysis of the Survival of a Group of Patients with Cancer of the Larynx', Chris C. McConkey, 1992.
• 'A Multi-Process Approach to the Simple Power Steady Model', Ching-Yi Hsia, 1991.
• 'Bayesian Statistics: Models, Applications and Tools', Klaus Petersen, 1990.
• 'Survival Models and Data Analysis: A GLIM Oriented Approach', Theodore Christodoulou, 1989.

Undergraduate Projects currently being supervised by JEHS

• Topics in mixture analysis (4th year).
• The effects of drinking and smoking on mortality rates (3rd year).
• Statistics in medicine (2nd year).

Other Post-1995 Undergraduate Projects

• Graphical models for expert systems.
• Analysis of various biomedical data-sets.
• Simulating strategies for winning at blackjack.
• History of descriptive statistical methods.
• An investigation into the relationship between lung cancer and keeping pet birds.
• A simulation study of compartmental modelling.

Some pre-1995 Undergraduate Projects

• Study of UK crime data.
• Splines in statistics.
• Analysis of a large medical data set on 'glue ear' in children.
• Development of an improved snooker ranking system.
• Survey of leukaemia incidence near nuclear installations.
• APL programming for survival analysis.

The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before.

Thorstein Veblen.

Basic research is like shooting an arrow in the air and, where it lands, painting a target.

Homer Adkins, Nature 312 (1984): 212