PhD Studentship/PostDoc position in Applied Statistics/Applied
Linguistics
at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense

Project Title: Statistical Methods for the Analysis of
Longitudinal Studies on Language Acquisition

Keywords: binary data, longitudinal data, growth curve models,
mixture models, statistical modeling


As part of the Odense Language Acquisition Project a longitudinal study
on language acquisition among children has been conducted at the
Institute
of Language and Communication, University of Southern Denmark. Within
the study, the language acquisition process of 211 Danish children has
been
monitored starting at the age of 8 months and continuing until the age
of
30 months. Each month parents filled out a questionnaire to check for
several
hundreds of words, whether the child has started to understand or to use

the specific word. The questionnaire used is the Danish-language
adaptation of the widely employed MacArthur Communicative Development
Inventory (CDI). Additionally, data from a cross sectional CDI based
study
will become available during the project.

The aim of the project is to develop and apply statistical methods
appropriate to validate hypotheses about language acquisition
among children, especially about the interaction between sound
structure and other building blocks (such as lexical items and
morphological endings) in language acquisition. Such hypotheses often
postulate the existence of several groups of children with similar
acquisition patterns, but these similarities are frequently hidden by a
variation in the temporal course among children. Hence a major part of
the
project will be to develop and apply statistical methods to detect
groups
of children with such similarities. We expect here to benefit from
some type of mixture models for growth curves. The specific questions
to be addressed will be developed in close cooperation with members
of the Odense Language Acquisition Project. The successful candidate
should
also participate in the analysis of the large cross sectional study.

The position is open primarily for a PhD studentship (stipend),
subsidiarily
for a PostDoc position. The successful candidate at the PhD level
should have a degree in statistics or a degree in a subject related to
language or psychology and some experience in applied statistics
and statistical modeling. The successful candidate at the
PostDoc level should have a PhD in statistics or a related field
and specific expertise in one of the subjects relevant for the
project. We expect in any case interest in working on the boundary
between application and theory and good computer skills.


The position will be attached to the biostatistics group
(http://www.biostat.sdu.dk) at the Department of Statistics and
Demography
(http://www.sdu.dk/tvf/statdem) and to the Center for Language
Acquisition
(http://www/sdu/dk/hum/sprogtilegnelse) at the Institute of
Language and Communication (http://www.humaniora.sdu.dk/index_eng.html).

For candidates aiming at the PhD studentship there will be a possibility

to work some months prior to the enrollment on a research assistance
level
in order to prepare the final PhD application. The PostDoc position will

be limited to 3 years, but there might be a possibility for a
prolongation.
The position will include a small amount of teaching and consulting
duties
within the Faculty of Humanities. The position should be filled
1. September 2002 or later.



Further information can by obtained from

Werner Vach
Professor of Biostatistics
Department of Statistics and Demography
University of Southern Denmark
Sdr. Boulevard 23a
DK-5000 Odense C
email: [log in to unmask]

or

Dorthe Bleses
Associate Professor
Center for Language Acquisition
Institute of Language and Communication
University of Southern Denmark
Campusvej 55
DK-5230 Odense M
email: [log in to unmask]

Applications (including a cv) should be sent to Werner Vach. Closing
date
is May 1st.


--
Werner Vach
Institut for Statistik og Demografi (Department of Statistics and Demography)
Syddansk Universitet (University of Southern Denmark)

Mailing address: Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
Visitors' address: Sdr. Boulevard 23A, 3rd. floor, 5000 Odense C

Phone: +45 65 50 33 83 Fax: +45 65 95 77 66
email: [log in to unmask]