PhD Studentship: Welcome Trust award in Medical Statistics

Statistical Methods for Dealing with Item Non-Response in the NATSAL 2010 Sex Survey

Applications are invited for a fully funded three year PhD studentship, funded by the Wellcome Trust, in the field of Medical Statistics.

The British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL) is the only representative sex survey of the general population. It was previously conducted in 1990 and 2000, and will be repeated in 2010. NATSAL findings have frequently informed sexual and reproductive health policy in Britain, and the 2010 survey will enable estimates of key parameters to be updated and changes over time to be assessed. As with all large surveys, missing data create problems for the analysis of the NATSAL. Missing data arise both from potential participants declining to take part in the survey and from participants not answering all the survey questions. This PhD project will concentrate on the latter type of missing data. It will investigate how statistical methods for handling missing data can be applied to the NATSAL and how the sensitivity of the survey findings to assumptions about the mechanisms determining which data are missing can be assessed.

The project will involve assessing existing statistical methods, adapting them to the needs of the NATSAL data and, possibly, the development of new statistical methodology. The student will be registered for PhD study and based at the Centre for Sexual Health & HIV Research, University College London, where he or she will work together with the NATSAL team including Dr Andrew Copas, and will spend one day a week at the Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge with Dr Shaun Seaman, who will be the lead supervisor. The student will also meet periodically with Dr James Carpenter at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who completes the supervisory team.

The three institutions (UCL, MRC BSU, LSHTM) are all at the forefront of international research in medical statistics, and the links with each will provide the student with access to leading researchers, many other PhD students, training opportunities and regular seminars.

Applicants should have completed, or expect to have before starting their studies, a Masters degree in Statistics or equivalent. The application pack including UCL graduate study application form, further details of this project and how to apply, is available from Kay Stratton, kstratton@gum. ucl.ac.uk and 020 7380 9878. The deadline for applications is 26th March 2009, and interviews are expected to take place on 2nd April 2009.

The studentship provides a stipend for three years of around £19,500 p.a. in the first year, increasing subsequently, and meets the tuition fees for UK/EU students. Applications from UK, EU and overseas students are encouraged. For students from outside the EU, it is possible that alternative UCL Overseas Research Scholarships could cover the difference between the overseas fees and the UK/EU fees subject to a separate application and selection process (deadline 1/5/09, further details in the application pack). Applicants must fulfill the normal academic requirements for acceptance for postgraduate study at UCL.

The studentship is available to start in September 2009.

Informal inquires regarding the studentship can be made to Dr Shaun Seaman (shaun.seaman@ mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk) or Dr Andrew Copas (acopas@gum.ucl.ac.uk)

Additional information about the Centre for Sexual Health & HIV Research and the MRC Biostatistics Unit can be found at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sexual-health/ and http://www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk, respectively.

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