FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Unless urgency is involved, the rate is $60 per hour for standard projects ( regression, ANOVA, survey design, non-parametric tests ) and more for "high tech" material ( data mining, cluster analysis, panel data, multivariate time series, hidden Markov models, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Bayesian modeling, GWAS, advanced SAS functionality, statistical arbitrage, exotic asset pricing, market risk management, trading strategies ). Please e-mail me at consulting AT stanfordphd.com for more detailed pricing information or any other inquiry.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
The following services are offered in the areas of statistical consulting and financial consulting. 1] CONSULTING YOU ON THE HOURLY BASIS The typical length of session is at least 2 hours. I meet for face-to-face sessions in New York. I consult clients in other locations via Skype ( allows videoconferencing and screen sharing ), e-mail and phone. 2] DOING A PROJECT FOR YOU The package includes all the analysis required for the project + conclusions written up as a Word doc + instructions on how to do the analysis, so you can replicate my results. 3] DEVELOPMENT OF QUANTITATIVE SYSTEMS I develop infrastructure necessary for proprietary trading, risk management, pattern recognition or any other type of quantitative analysis. I deliver the infrastructure in a form allowing it to function relatively autonomously within the systems of your company. 4] DISSERTATION ASSISTANCE I help you rephrase research objectives and match them with the appropriate statistical methods. I perform the data analysis for you in the software of your choice: SPSS, SAS, R, Matlab, Stata, Minitab or EViews. Alternatively, I guide you through performing the analysis yourself and help with interpretation of the results. I prepare you for each presentation of your research. I make sure you know all the theory before the dissertation defense... You may want to read the dissertation tips. 5] DESIGNING A COURSE IN A GIVEN SUBJECT FOR YOU I prepare learning materials, exercises and data-driven projects for you. You read the material and do projects on your own timing. After that, we meet face to face or in Skype. I check the results of your work and answer the list of questions you have prepared. I explain how to approach several selected tasks. After that, I give you a new batch of learning materials and exercises. The cycle repeats itself... This option allows you to improve your skills relatively cheaply, as you are not paying for the time when I am not around.
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
Always ask for some kind of verification of credentials. For example, some consulting companies describe themselves as packed with Harvard, Stanford or Berkeley PhDs. In reality, those may be the founders of the company, which are not currently present in the room. The person sitting at the table with you may have little to do with the described profile.