Frequently Asked Questions

1. To whom does the Stats Support Office provide services to?

-        All currently registered UNISA Hons, Postgraduate Diploma, Masters and Doctoral students

1. What kind of support does Stats Support offer?

-        Guidance on the selection and utilisation of appropriate methods for collection and statistical analysis of data.

-        The support provided covers the following phases; research design, data collection, data capturing and data analysis. A detailed outline of the service provided is available on the Stats Support website.

1. Which documents must I submit to receive assistance?

-        The documents required depend on the nature of support required. See Table 1 for details

Table 1: Documents\files required for consultation

Click here to download the consultation form

1. Are the consultations done online or in person?

-        Due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, consultations are held online via MS Teams

1. When should I contact Stats Support?

-        The beginning of the study is the best time to seek statistical guidance

1. What if I have already collected data?

-        Data analysis support will be provided given that the data meets the minimum required standard for data analysis i.e., the office reserves the right to refuse to analyze data collected without their involvement, should the data not meet the minimum standard required for data analysis.

1. What is the turnaround time?

-        The turnaround time is dependent on the workload of the office, the type of support required and the complexity of the project/study.

1. Which workshops does the Stats Support Office offer?

-        Basic to advanced statistics workshops

-        Practical SPSS workshops to equip students with practical skills to perform statistical data analysis on their own

Click here for a complete list of workshops for the year

1. What are the requirements to attend SPSS workshops?

-        The student must have SPSS loaded on their computer before the training workshop

-        The student must either be busy with data collection or have completed data collection.

-        The student must complete an RSVP form to secure their attendance

Click here to RSVP for a workshop

-        The student must provide ethical clearance certificate before the training workshop

-        The student must provide proof of registration before the training workshop

1. Do you assist with qualitative data analysis?

-        We only assist with quantitative research

1. Which statistical software(s) are available?

-        SPSS

-        AMOS

Click here to download the software request form

1. Which online data collection tools are available for UNISA students?

-        The university does not have a license for any online data collection tools

1. Can you assist me with installation of SPSS?

-        For assistance with software installation you can contact Mr TN Matjila at tmatjit@unisa.ac.za

1. What is not done by the Stats Support Office?

-        We don’t act as supervisors

-        We don’t write the data analysis or methodology section for students

-        We only review examples/extracts of writeups