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Faculty Consultation Services

Free Consulting

All Texas State University faculty or a group of faculty members working collective on a research project (i.e., multiple faculty are working on the same project) are eligible for up to six hours of free consulting one time. Faculty who would like more than the available six hours of free consulting may access additional hours through contract consulting (see below). Please note the following:

  • these hours are not combinable with paid consultation
  • the faculty must be in attendance (in-person or Zoom meetings) with the consultant to build the faculty member’s methodological capacity
  • faculty can only schedule one hour of free consulting per week 
  • consultants cannot answer methodological, measurement, or statistical questions via email under this model 
  • there may be a waiting queue for free consulting.

Please click here to request an appointment. Requests for appointments are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Provide the following information:

  • a short explanation of the type of assistance you are seeking
  • availability (provide 2-3 choices)
  • department
  • rank
  • email address

Please contact us immediately if you need to cancel an appointment.

Assistance we can provide for free consultation

Data Analytics and Research Methodology (DARM) staff can provide the following types of assistance within the scheduled free six hours:

  • Selection and explanation of appropriate methodological analyses
  • Sound design selection and analytic strategies for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies
  • Writing of good quantitative (i.e. survey), qualitative (i.e. interview protocol), and mixed methods data collection items, measurement issues
  • Software recommendations
  • Conduct example analyses using various software packages
  • Interpretation of results/findings
  • Information about analysis/statistical/research design resources

Requests for appointments are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Assistance we cannot provide

  • Individual consultation cannot be provided to students or non-Texas State University faculty. Graduate students working with a faculty member on a research project that is not a student research project may attend the session with the faculty member.
  • Data processing, data cleaning labor (although we can advise on these), or advanced statistical software programming.
  • While our intention is not to accrue co-authorships, academic ethics of co-authorship apply (see Responsible Conduct of Research). Similarly, should we apply standard research or analytical techniques in a novel or creative way, or develop new techniques for your work, co-authorship may be appropriate.
  • Help with work that falls outside your faculty duties (e.g., if you are working as a paid consultant or contractor).
  • We cannot perform analyses in your absence or write up results/findings for you (please see next section called Professional Data Analysis if you want this type of support).

Contract Consulting

We offer contract consulting to faculty and staff with more complex methodological, data analysis, or measurement needs (for more information see Professional Data Analysis Services). Contract services are provided for an hourly fee and may include data cleaning and manipulation, tailored data analyses, or detailed reporting of results. Further, we work with student-facing programs within the university to add research components into ongoing projects and/or with practitioner- and field-based programs to incorporate research into the naturalistic flow of ongoing teaching and work.