Pre-conference Seminars & Statistical Tutorials
You can extend your educational opportunities in a number of ways at SAS Global Forum 2009. Sign up to participate in a Pre-Conference Seminar, Statistical Tutorial or one of the pre-conference SAS Training classes. (Note: Available with the Conference Plus Package.)
Seminars and Statistical Tutorials
Sunday, March 22
Two types of educational opportunities are available Sunday, March 22, at the
conference.
- Statistical Tutorials cost $125 each and include relevant handouts. SAS R&D staff will teach all Statistical Tutorials.
- Pre-Conference Seminars cost $150 each and take place in the morning and afternoon.
- These extra-fee items are only available as additions to a conference registration.
| Pre-Conference Seminars | |||
| An Introduction to Data Cleaning (Fee $150) | What is a Hash Object and How Do I Use It? (Fee $150) |
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| Building Reusable Macro Tools with the SAS Macro Language (Fee $150) | Adding SQL to Your SAS Programming Repertoire (Fee $150) |
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| Herding Cats: What Everyone Should Know About Managing SAS Programmers (Fee $150) | Best Practices in Base SAS Coding (Fee $150) |
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| Printable Reporting in SAS: The Power of SAS and ODS (Fee $150) | Exploring SAS Enterprise Guide® 4.2 (Fee $150) | ||
| Statistical Tutorials | |||
| 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. (concurrent offerings) |
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (concurrent offerings) |
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| Introduction to Logistic Regression Using SAS Software (Fee $125) |
Analyzing Survey Data Using Replication Methods in SAS Software (Fee $125) | ||
| Introduction to Bayesian Analysis Using SAS Software (Fee $125) | Creating Statistical Graphics with ODS in SAS 9.2 (Fee $125) |
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Details:
Morning Seminars
8:00 - 11:30 a.m.
- An Introduction to Data Cleaning
Instructor: Ronald Cody, Private Consultant
This half-day workshop explores ways to look for data errors using both DATA step programming and Base SAS® procedures. Functions such as VERIFY and several of the new SAS® 9 character functions make SAS especially well suited to this task. Topics to be discussed include:
- Checking values of character variables.
- Detecting numeric outliers.
- Checking for duplicate observations.
- Correcting data.
- Creating integrity constraints and audit trails.
- Building Reusable Macro Tools with the SAS® Macro Language
Instructor: Kirk P. Lafler, Software Intelligence Corp.
The SAS macro language is a powerful feature for extending the capabilities of the SAS system. This seminar presents macro design guidelines along with a collection of techniques for constructing reusable and effective macro tools. Attendees learn how to build functional macros that process statements containing SAS code; design and implement reusable macro techniques; create macros consisting of keyword and positional parameters; build a library of macro utilities; interface the macro language with the SQL procedure; and develop efficient and portable macro language code.
- Herding Cats: What Everyone Should Know About Managing SAS® Programmers
- Fundamental line management responsibilities, including job blueprints, hiring and skills assessment, mentoring and coaching, performance management, career development, motivating, performance plans and firing.
- Corporate considerations such as managing change, cross-functional demands, budget and resource management.
- General management skills such as meeting management, collaboration, and delegation.
- Team skills including communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution.
- Maintenance of technical expertise in SAS, business intelligence, tools, and training.
- Printable Reporting in SAS®: The Power of SAS and ODS
Instructor: Pete Lund, Looking Glass Analytics
The SAS Output Delivery System (ODS) is a wonderful thing. It can help you create Web pages, make datasets from procedures that don't do it on their own and send output to multiple destinations at the same time.
But, one of the most powerful features of ODS is that it gives you the capability to create high-quality, printable output in PDF, RTF and Excel. We'll look at a number of topics:
- Results from multiple procedures on the same page – even side by side.
- Mixed text and graphical output.
- Ways to control the appearance of procedure output, even down to affecting the look of a single cell.
- Methods for adding blocks of text to your output.
- Formatted Excel spreadsheets, with frozen headers, specific column widths, page numbers, etc.
Note: A working knowledge of SAS reporting tools (REPORT, TABULATE, formats, SAS/GRAPH®) is essential for this class. We will spend a short time reviewing these, but will focus the majority of the class on taking advantage of these tools in a report production environment.
Instructor: Neil Howard, Amgen Inc.Managing programmers has been likened to herding cats. Programming teams are characterized by elegant chaos and creative tension. So, how do we orchestrate a productive environment where everyone thrives and the business needs are met? This seminar will address:
All of these aspects need to be evaluated in conjunction with cross-functional, cross-cultural and virtual influences - and the remote workforce which is especially challenging. We will also consider such trade-offs such as the technical versus management track; project work versus organizational initiatives (like standardization, tools and macro development, infrastructure); work-life balance; and people versus project management considerations.
Audience: managers, those preparing for or aspiring to management, and programmers who are managed.
Statistical Tutorials
8:00 - 10:00 a.m.
- Introduction to Logistic Regression Using SAS® Software
Instructor: Bob Derr, SAS
Logistic regression is one of the basic modeling tools for a statistician or data analyst. This tutorial focuses on the basic methodology behind logistic regression and discusses parameterization, testing goodness of fit, and model evaluation using the LOGISTIC procedure. The tutorial concentrates on binary response models, but direction for handling ordinal responses is also provided. This tutorial discusses numerous ODS graphics now available with the LOGISTIC procedure, as well as newer features of SAS 9.2 such as ROC comparisons and odds ratios with interactions. The tutorial includes numerous examples.
- Introduction to Bayesian Analysis Using SAS® Software
Instructors: Maura Stokes and Fang K. Chen, SAS
Bayesian methods have become increasingly popular in recent years in a number of different disciplines. This tutorial provides an introduction to Bayesian methods with applications in the areas of the generalized linear model and survival analysis. The first part of the course provides an overview of Bayesian methodology, including motivation and Bayesian inference, as well as computational methods and convergence diagnostics relevant to the SAS implementation. The second part of the course discusses applications using new capabilities in SAS/STAT® software in the GENMOD, LIFEREG and PHREG procedures which are based on Gibbs sampling. Examples will include methods such as linear regression, logistic regression, Poisson regression, Cox regression, parametric survival models, and the piecewise exponential model.
A master's-level knowledge of statistics is assumed as well as experience with generalized linear models and survival analysis. Previous exposure to Bayesian methods is useful but not required.
- Analyzing Survey Data Using Replication Methods in SAS® Software
Instructor: Anthony An, SAS
Increasingly, statisticians analyze data that comes from probability-based sample surveys. The SURVEYMEANS, SURVEYFREQ, SURVEYREG and SURVEYLOGISTIC procedures properly analyze complex survey data by taking into account the sample design, allowing you to make statistically valid inferences about the study population.
Beginning in SAS 9.2, in addition to the Taylor series method, these procedures provide replication methods for variance estimation, such as balanced repeated replication (BRR) and the jackknife method. These methods give more flexibility and power to SAS users for analyzing their complex survey data.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to estimate variances with replication methods and how to create replicate weights for further analysis. You will also learn how to estimate the variance when you provide your own replicate weights. Variance estimation issues related to replication methods will also be discussed.
The tutorial is intended for a broad audience of statisticians who are interested in analyzing sample survey data. Familiarity with basic statistics, including regression analysis, is required.
- Creating Statistical Graphics with ODS in SAS 9.2
Instructors: Robert Rodriguez and Jeff Cartier, SAS
Effective graphics are indispensable in modern statistical analysis. SAS 9.2 provides new functionality, referred to as "ODS graphics," which is being used by more than 50 statistical procedures to create statistical graphics automatically as they create tables with ODS (the Output Delivery System). This functionality is also used by new SAS/GRAPH procedures that are designed for graphical exploration of data.
This workshop is intended for statistical users and covers the use of ODS graphics from start to finish in statistical analysis. You will learn how to:
- Use the new SGPLOT, SGPANEL and SGSCATTER procedures in SAS/GRAPH.
- Request graphs created by statistical procedures.
- Access and manage your graphs for inclusion in Web sites, papers, and presentations.
- Change graph styles.
- Enhance your graphs using a point-and-click editor.
- Make permanent modifications to your graphs with basic template changes.
Afternoon Seminars
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
- What Is a Hash Object and How Do I Use It?
Instructor: Jane Stroupe, SAS
Have you heard that in SAS® 9, there's a new DATA step component called a HASH object? The HASH object is a wonderful way to perform table lookups, but knowing when you should use it and exactly how you use it can be a mystery. This seminar makes it easy to understand what the HASH object is, why you might want to use it, and how you write programs to utilize the object in the most-efficient manner.
- Adding SQL to Your SAS® Programming Repertoire
Instructors: Warren Repole and Su Chee Tay, SAS
Although the DATA step and Base SAS procedures can accomplish many tasks, there is a role for Structured Query Language (SQL) in many SAS applications. Some SAS users are reluctant to try SQL because they perceive it as "a different programming language." After they recognize the numerous parallels between SQL approaches and the corresponding traditional SAS techniques, it becomes apparent that SQL is just another variation of SAS code, much like the SAS macro language. In fact, PROC SQL is part of Base SAS itself.
This seminar shows parallels between SQL and traditional SAS solutions, and illustrates the benefits of implementing SQL-based solutions in place of, or in addition to, step-based SAS code. Well-crafted SQL alternatives can streamline SAS programs, expedite the development and debugging process, and minimize future code maintenance. As a bonus, certain applications can run more efficiently when written using SQL.
Topics are divided into four main categories: (1) Displaying and Computing Data; (2) Combining Data; (3) Modifying Data; and (4) Macro Applications.
- Best Practices in Base SAS® Coding
Instructor: Linda Jolley, SAS
How you write SAS code can have a tremendous impact on the use of computer and programmer resources. In this seminar, we'll look at techniques you should use whenever you write SAS code to minimize the use of CPU, I/O, memory, disk space, and networking resources. We'll examine SAS coding techniques that produce identical results and compare the computer resource usage of each technique. We'll also look at some "tricks of the trade" to minimize code maintenance.
- Exploring SAS® Enterprise Guide® 4.2
Instructor: Kenneth Sucher, SAS
SAS Enterprise Guide 4.2 is a powerful application that allows users to take advantage of the data processing and analysis power of SAS in a point-and-click tool. In this presentation, the following features will be addressed:
- Navigating the SAS Enterprise Guide environment.
- Accessing various type of data including SAS and Excel.
- Creating summary statistics reports in HTML, PDF and RTF formats.
- Using the SAS Enterprise Guide query tool to subset data, compute new columns and join tables.
- Creating tabular summary reports and interactive graphics using SAS Enterprise Guide's dynamic wizards.