Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

Who is the Best Person to Help with Statistical or Technical Hurdles?

20 Mar 2026 · 0 min

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In this brief dialogue, Speaker A asks who to approach for assistance with specific statistical or technical challenges. Speaker B advises starting with the department chair, who may also serve as the methodologist, and if needed, moving to the methodologist on the dissertation committee after consulting the chair. The speaker emphasizes the importance of demonstrating prior effort—such as consulting relevant books or authors—before requesting help, to show initiative rather than simply asking others to solve the problem.

Who is the best person to ask for help with specific statistical or technical hurdles?
Start with your chair because your chair might be your methodologist. Or go to the methodologist on the committee after going through the chair. But it's always best to have shown them you have looked at things first. Hey, I've looked here, I've looked at this book or this author, whatever. I can't quite get how to get from here to there. So it shows you have tried first instead of just saying, I gave up, you do it.