Topics of research are diverse involving both the analysis of large data sets and in depth qualitative research. The Department has a long history of being one of the leading centres in the world for developing methods of survey sampling. Recently the Department has entered into a partnership with the UK Office for National Statistics to improve the methodology of surveys in British government statistics and this partnership will provide a unique opportunity for research students to interact with other survey statisticians. Recent research has included work on the design of complex surveys, the effect of survey design on statistical analysis and the analysis of response errors in the labour force survey. The Department's work currently focuses on multilevel modelling, controlling for missing data, exact tests for categorical data, di sclosure issues and event history analysis.
Opportunities exist in permanent health insurance as well as in a broad range of actuarial science.
The Department actively works with students to prepare applications to funding bodies such as the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the United Nations Population Fund for Commonwealth Scholarships. We have a high success rate in obtaining Economic and Social Research Council Studentships. The programme provides an education in statistical theory and methods equivalent to that contained in an honours degree in statistics. In the past students have had very varied backgrounds. Amongst these are graduates in the social sciences, natural sciences and engineering, whose degrees have involved a minority study of statistics and who wish to extend and consolidate their knowledge in this area.