Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland
Senior Statistical Scientist
Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland
JCMB, The King's Buildings,
EDINBURGH, EH9 3JZ, Scotland, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)131 651 7288
Fax: +44 (0)131 650 4901
Email: Javier Palarea-Albaladejo
My main role within BioSS consists of providing statistical and mathematical consultancy and research inputs in support of research in Animal Health and Welfare and other key application areas. My research work contributes to the development of statistical methodology relevant to key application areas. I am based at the BioSS Headquarters in Edinburgh, but also spend some days providing on-site statistical support for scientists at the Moredun Research Institute.
My recent research work has been mainly focused on compositional data analysis (CODA) methods. Compositional data are vectors of positive amounts representing relative parts of a whole, typically measured in proportions, percentages, ppm or similar. Due to the particular constraints they are subject to, standard multivariate data analysis (cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, factor analysis, regression models, etc.) may be not applicable or produce misleading results and interpretations.
My major interest in this area has been to study ways to deal with the so-called “zero problem”, namely the occurrence of values below a certain threshold or detection limit. Also, I have been working on adapting some multivariate techniques to properly handle compositions, as well as on spreading the use of CODA methods in new application fields. These methods have a wide applicability in consultancy activities and research topics in nutritional studies, meat quality, social and animal behavioural patterns, soil composition, pollution analysis, time use analysis, multiparty elections, household budgets, investment portfolios, and so on.
