Looking for statistical analysis and data mining

[Entrepreneur]

I know of www.kaggle.com.  Are there any other sites or College/University departments that have either free or competition based stat analysis and data mining?

[AsherO]

I know of www.kaggle.com.  Are there any other sites or College/University departments that have either free or competition based stat analysis and data mining?

What exactly are you looking for, and is it only free or might you possibly pay?

[Entrepreneur]

What exactly are you looking for, and is it only free or might you possibly pay?

A bunch of things and willing to pay but ideally looking to see if there is something free.  Some universities have PhD candidates help with stat work for free.
Specifically looking into Discriminant Function analysis which is used to come up with functions that can predict specific groups.  My data is regression coefficients for around 300 people each with 36 variables.  Each person was clustered into one of three possible groups (I use K-Means clustering with Pearson distance measure).  I am looking to figure out which subset of variables can predict the user group with a certain degree of accuracy.

[AsherO]

A bunch of things and willing to pay but ideally looking to see if there is something free.  Some universities have PhD candidates help with stat work for free.
Specifically looking into Discriminant Function analysis which is used to come up with functions that can predict specific groups.  My data is regression coefficients for around 300 people each with 36 variables.  Each person was clustered into one of three possible groups (I use K-Means clustering with Pearson distance measure).  I am looking to figure out which subset of variables can predict the user group with a certain degree of accuracy.

Man, I really wish I knew what you were talking about Here I was thinking I knew a thing or two about data analysis...

[elikay]

Man, I really wish I knew what you were talking about

+1
lol

[AsherO]

@OP, perhaps you have a book for beginners that you can recommend, I really need some spoon-feeding due to my lack of a formal secular education.

[Entrepreneur]

Man, I really wish I knew what you were talking about Here I was thinking I knew a thing or two about data analysis...

Believe me, this is literally nothing compared to what goes on in the analytic world... I reacted the same way as you when I see what the big boys are doing!
I am going through Coursera courses which are really great.  I highly recommend it if you are interested in furthering your knowledge.

[AsherO]

Believe me, this is literally nothing compared to what goes on in the analytic world... I reacted the same way as you when I see what the big boys are doing!
I am going through Coursera courses which are really great.  I highly recommend it if you are interested in furthering your knowledge.

Thanks!

Will Coursera start off basic enough for me?

[Entrepreneur]

Thanks!

Will Coursera start off basic enough for me?

Tough to say..... I am  in the middle of Statistics One by Andrew Conway from Princeton.  He is fantastic, really clear, and i am learning R.  There is nothing about probability though.  I would say give it a shot.  You can watch the video at your own pace and download his presentation used during the video. 
Also, the forums are invaluable!  Imagine being in a class with 70,000 students and throwing out a question to them. You are bound to get an answer within an hour.  For other online courses you may want to check http://www.mooc-list.com (mooc- massive open online course).

I also used youtube and found some really great stuff.

Good luck

[Entrepreneur]

@OP, perhaps you have a book for beginners that you can recommend, I really need some spoon-feeding due to my lack of a formal secular education.

I am basically self taught from playing with data and watching youtube videos and online courses