If I’m about to be fired for doing my job, then I don’t wanna work there. But at any rate, I don’t think I’m about to be fired. And I’m not understanding why you seem to believe otherwise.
I told a coworker that I won’t think another bad thought if the contractor comes back with “OMG! I’m SO sorry about this! Here’s the corrected report!” But if all we get is crickets, I’m totally going there with the bamboozlement and hoodwinkery charges.
Not necessarily. If the statistical analysis is typically provided for this type of work, it wouldn’t need to be spelled out in the contract. More importantly, during the review period, monstro requested the information. Doesn’t really matter what the comment was; if it’s not addressed, the client is in the position to withhold final payment because the work is not complete.
Yes and no. You can argue what is commercially standard and reasonable, but Statements of Work do matter, and that argument will destroy your schedule. If the work is not done, and it’s not requested, that can mean that he didn’t include it in the pricing, and he has a right to request a Change Order to increase funding and cover the creation of the new section.
Now, I’m not a scientist, but it seems to me that if he has done his work correctly, this should be a matter of a couple of hours writing. It’s only a problem for him if he has been cutting corners he shouldn’t. So my approach would be to send a written rejection of the report stating with much detail the reason(s). Then when/if he objects, I would offer him 3-4 hours at Cost (no profit or fee) to complete the work. I would be very clear that this should not be interpreted as agreement that the Work was not called for in the initial contract, and would call out the lack of response when you requested it in the review phase. (He should have spoken up then if he thought it was outside the Scope. I would be careful to couch my reasoning in terms of avoiding further schedule slip, and be very clear that if he wishes to continue to negotiate that point, the work should continue in parallel. (Hopefully that’s already in your Subcontract, it’s pretty standard.)
hth!
My boss handles all the contract paperwork. I’m almost afraid to look at the scope of work.
I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do if the contractor comes back with “I don’t have to provide that information because it’s not in the contract.” Not after all the meetings we’ve had with him about how scientifically defensible this report has to be.
We’re talking 5 minutes, maximum. All I want to see is "Parameter averages were compared using the __ test. Relative frequencies of exceedence were compared using the ___ test. If he’s already done the analysis, this should be easy-peasy.
I know what tests most people, including myself, would use. But I’m not going to just assume that’s what he used.
I’m not a professional scientist (although I do science) but that’s kind of ridiculous. You have the p-values. You have the statistical test results. So provide the methods! That is, of course, unless you have something to hide…
monstro, good for you for doing your job.
And pleasepleaseplease tell me that you sent the report back saying nothing else but
“CITE?”
Regards,
Shodan
I agree it’s a big issue. Any reason you can’t just call the person and ask him or her why the stuff you wanted was left out? I’m all about giving people the benefit of the doubt before escalating to the bosses.
I don’t like escalating either. But he has a history of my ignoring my politely worded requests. All the other contractors on this particular study seem to trust that I know what I’m doing. But not him.
I’ve long stopped viewing this guy as someone who is deserving of the benefit of the doubt. Now, I only ask one time and then I tell my boss, who he seems to respect more.
But I’m hearing those familiar cricket sounds again, even after yesterday’s assist from my boss. He’s not on vacation or anything because I know he went out to lunch yesterday with a coworker. WTF. I’m so through with this guy.
If he produced shoddy work and has a history of ignoring what you say such that communicating directly with him to fix the problem is unlikely to work, it seems like what you did was irreproachable.
That’s not acceptable. I expect a minimal ID of the statistical methodology already in the article or report’s description, with more details given in the article itself.
It’s not a multiple-choice test: unless you show your methods, your results are invalid.
I’d tell my boss that the decisions/results are not scientifically defensible without showing the work. And if this really will be held to public scrutiny then there is a certainty that such a deficit would be challenged and the agency will have to show the work in the future. Best to get everything on paper now.
Possibly, but even then he should be able to say, I used the p-value provided by software XYZ. On the other hand, if you don’t understand what test you are using then you probably can’t tell whether or not it’s appropriate to the situation.
There is also the possibility that he is just lazy. Personally, I find writing statistical methods is just about my least favorite thing in the world to do, but I recognize that its an important part of the job and has to be done.
To the OP: What is this persons skill set? Does he have any statistical training or does he come from another field where he just picked up the notion that something called a p-value should be reported?
He’s not a statistician, but he is a tenured professor at a research university. He has a sufficient number of first-authored publications on his CV and has made a name for himself in his field.
We aren’t expecting him to be a statistics guru. Just someone who knows enough about the study topic and data analysis to give us a publishable, defensible report.
Were there any statistical methods in any of his other published papers? Looking at them might help you understand what he expects to be able to get away with, and also bolster your discussions with him. “What we want is the sort of thing you put in your paper XYZ”
You are being paid to be a whistle blower and you are blowing the whistle, that the report is indefensible. Would the lawyer say, “Oh the contract didn’t say the report has to stand up to scientific scrutiny. That’s an extra cost option.”? Well, that’s not your job, you are not a lawyer.
If the contractor is a published researcher, look at his publications and see if they lack statistical analysis. I recently read the claim that most reported p values are meaningless. Because something might be statistically significant but not practically significant. For example, a new treatment for non-critical condition that benefits one person in a 1000, but was tested on a giant sample and is very expensive.
I just read three recent publications of his that I could obtain via google. To my surprise, he never describes his statistical methods. His repertoire seems limited to linear regressions , since he always presents an R2 with his p-values to demonstrate relationships. But he didn’t do any correlation tests or linear modeling for the work we paid him for (much to my chagrin).
So now I’m REALLY suspicious. I’m concerned he has just slapped some Excel shitwork together and hopes we’re too stupid to know any better.
monstro’s response to my comment about getting her resume updated:
That handwriting I thought I smelled on the wall seemed to be the stench of an impending clusterfuck involving the contractor’s seemingly shoddy work, and the idea that your boss might just really want you to not rock any boats here.
Your subsequent posts in the thread seem to confirm my cynical knee-jerk suspicions. You’ve researched this guy’s past work and found it shabby. It doesn’t sound like your boss is really dealing with it. I think he just wants you to not make waves. Sounds to me like this is a clusterfuck just waiting to hit the fan, and you’re getting set up to take the fall.
Are we reading the same thread, Senegoid? What monstro posted:
That sounds like a boss who’s definitely dealing with it, not one who’s setting up an employee to take the fall. Where are you coming up with this stuff?