Archives for August 2019

Taking the pain out of subgroup analyses

By Reine Escalona on 2019-08-27 2

Interview with Necdet Gunsoy

Why do you think many of these “subgroup” projects are a headache for statisticians?
Have you felt frustrations about such projects yourself?
What are the steps to avoid or at least minimize these frustrations?

Do you have the same questions in mind? These are some of the questions Necdet will be answering and sharing with us.

This episode is based on a presentation at PSI 2019. Necdet won The Effective Statistician Best Presenter award for the amazing delivery of the presentation. But not only the delivery was excellent – the content will help you a lot. Here’s the abstract for the conference:

Abstract: Practical aspects of subgroup detection
Recent years have seen the emergence of new methods for detecting subgroups with enhanced treatment effects and statisticians are now faced with an overwhelming choice of approaches to consider. Confusion around the potential advantages and disadvantages of different methods can often result in the implementation of an approach which is not appropriate for a particular research question. This talk will provide a practical guide to the design and conduct of subgroup detection analyses, providing points to consider for selecting an appropriate method based on the research objective, the context of the analysis, the outcomes, and the covariates under consideration. Two example case studies will be presented to illustrate the discussed considerations.

Necdet and I will also discuss the following

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My story of the Effective Statistician and what you can learn from it

By Reine Escalona on 2019-08-20 0

Are you curious about why and how I started The Effective Statistician?
What’s in it for you?
Why I’m passionate about it?

It all started when I became a new supervisor and had my first direct reports and I thought I really needed to learn about supervisory skills but I had very limited time. I found out that podcasts really help to learn while I commute to work – it’s effective.

In this podcast, you can learn a lot from the following:

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What Matters Most? A Scientific Advice Role Play on Estimands

By Reine Escalona on 2019-08-13 0

Replay of the PSI conference 2018

Are you a sponsor who is seeking joint scientific advice from a regulatory agency and from an HTA body?

If yes, this episode is for you. This presentation replicates the discussions which may go on during scientific advice. The example was in Respiratory. This roleplay was played by David Wright, Oliver Keene, Stephen Ruberg, and myself. Mouna Akacha moderated the discussion. The aim was to show a couple of discussion points and an interesting aspect that may come up with such discussions.

A lively debate followed about the differing needs of Regulatory agencies vs HTA, with the patient voice often not taking centre stage.

We will also be talking about the following:

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How to become a leader in a cross-functional team

By Reine Escalona on 2019-08-06 0

People who ask take the lead

As statisticians, we work in cross-functional teams, but many people, especially junior people prefer to follow rather than to lead – and that’s okay. Ask yourself:

Do you always take the position of the follower or a leader?
Do you need to train yourself to lead?
Are you seen as an implementer?
Do you have goals for your project?

You can lead as well. According to Forbes, the best leaders lead with questions, not answers. Leading with questions works because really good questions have a direct impact on the brain. When we are challenged by a question that triggers an insight, neurons connect in new ways. This releases neurotransmitters that create the motivation to act. The net result is that the other person not only likes the idea, but they also want to do something with it.

In today’s episode, Benjamin and I will be talking about:

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