North-West University (NWU) academic and deputy dean in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Prof Ntebo Moroke voiced her intention to contribute to the literature on multivariate analysis methods during her inaugural lecture at the campus in Mahikeng.
Titled “On multivariate analysis of high-dimensional data”, Prof Moroke’s lecture was presented on 7 August 2019.
Prof Moroke spoke of her fascinating encounter with statistics and her journey towards the statistics profession.
She also touched on her modest contributions to the field of statistics with regard to teaching, research, consultancy and training.
What is multivariate analysis?
Multivariate analysis refers to any statistical technique used to analyse more complex sets of data. There are more than 20 different methods to perform multivariate analysis and the best method depends on the type of data and the problem to be solved.
Essentially, you build models that reflect an actual product or process and optimise it by using different methods.
Developed in the early 20th century, it started gaining popularity during the 21st century due to increasing technological advances.
Multivariate analysis is typically used for quality control and assurance, process optimisation and control, research and development and consumer and market research.
Her field of interest
Prof Moroke’s field of interest is the application of different multivariate analysis algorithms to high-dimensional and messy data.
“I am fascinated by the interplay of variables in multivariate data and by the challenge of unravelling the effect of each variable,” she explains.
As a result, she published and presented a number of papers that focused on the application of multivariate data analysis methods.
“I intend to continue to contribute to this study area, especially because of the lack of literature in this regard. I also want to popularise multivariate analysis techniques to entice the interest of more scholars across the globe,” she adds.
More about Prof Moroke
Prof Moroke obtained a BCom in statistics and economics in 2000, a BComHons in statistics in 2002, and a PhD in statistics in 2014.
She started lecturing as a part-time junior lecturer in 2002 and worked her way up to the ranks of a full professor. She was appointed as an associate research professor in 2015, and is currently the deputy dean for community engagement and stakeholder relations in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.
To date, Prof Moroke has successfully supervised 12 master’s students and five doctoral candidates in statistics.
Here is Prof Ntebo Moroke with four of the doctoral candidates she supervised.
