Non-AFRE Co-Principle Investigators: Russell Freed, Director (Crop & Soil Science); an advisory board consisting of D. Isleib (Institute of International Agriculture), E. Everson (Crop & Soil Science),

Project Name:           Microcomputer Statistical Package (MSTAT)
Donor:                       Agency for International Development, United Nations Development Program, Farming Systems Support Project (University of Florida),
Contract No:              A37446 with the University of Florida 
Account No:              71-3813, 71-3815 (FSSP), 71-4220 (UNDP), 71-1991 (Title XII)
Location:                  Worldwide. Workshops have been conducted in Zimbabwe, Mali, Malawi, Senegal, IRRI in the Philippines, Ecuador, and the U.S.
Duration:                   November 1983 - December 1985
Budget:                     Florida--$213,712; UNDP--$39,500; Title XII--$12,000

Key MSU Faculty:     Russell Freed, Director (Crop & Soil Science); an advisory board consisting of D. Isleib (Institute of International Agriculture), E. Everson (Crop & Soil Science), Michael Weber and Richard Bernsten (Agricultural Economics)

Documentation:        (Click here to view)

Project Goals:           To develop an integrated microcomputer program that will assist agricultural scientists in most of the steps involved in doing agricultural research-that is to generate experimental designs, manage and transform data, and analyze experiments from both a biological and economical perspective. The program includes the following general features: generate experimental designs; print field books, labels and field maps; sort data; transform data; create histograms; create one and two-way tables; generate descriptive statistics; perform economic analysis; organize plant breeding programs; produce ASCII files; and accept ASCII files.

Project Plans/Objectives:

• To generate a newsletter (publication commencing April 1985) for all MSTAT purchasers and users.
• To present workshops in Pakistan and Bangladesh under the auspices and sponsorship of CIMMYT.
• To revise programs and include new programs in plant breeding and agricultural economics.
• To network with MSTAT users.

Cooperating Institutions:      Farming Systems Support Project at the University of Florida, International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, CIMMYT, lADS, UNDP

Project Summary: In collaboration with several institutions and as a result of networking arrangements with MSTAT users, the program is continually being updated to include new programs that meet the needs of its users. The package was made available in French, Spanish and English.  While no formal evaluation of MSTAT was conducted, informal favorable feedback from workshop participants (individuals at CIAT, IRRI, ILCA, and AID field personnel) on the effectiveness of the programs and the workshops was received. Software and documentation are available free for downloading from sources listed below.

Documents From/About this Project:

• MSTAT Final Report.  1986. By Russell Freed.  MSU
• Microcomputer Program for the Design, Management, and Analysis of Agronomic Research Experiments (MSTAT-C).
  • MSTAT-C: Description
  • MSTAT-C: Program Files
  • MSTAT-C: Manual
    • Chapters 1-6 (2.5 mg) (Content: Ch. 1: General Information, Ch. 2: Using MSTAT, Ch 3: Data File Creation, Editing and Sorting, Ch. 4: Experimental Design Series, Ch. 5: Varietal and Lattice Design and Management, Ch. 6: Plant Breeding Program)
    • Chapters 7-9 (2.7 mg) (Content: Ch. 7: Economic Analysis, Ch. 8: Descriptive Statistics and Plotting, Ch 9: Analysis of Variance)
    • Chapters 10-Appendices (2.5 mg) (Content: Ch 10: Data Analysis, Ch. 11: Multivariate Analysis Subprograms, Ch. 12: Accession Series Subprogram, Ch. 13: MGraphics Subprogram, Appendicies)
    • MSTAT End User License
• CIMMYT Training Manual (From Agronomic Data to Farmer Recommendations) to accompany MSTAT Economic Analysis (Ch 8).  
• IDWP 29.Fundamentals of Price Analysis in Developing Countries' Food Systems: A Training Manual to Accompany the Microcomputer Software Program 'MSTAT' (7.2MB PDF) by Stephen Goetz and Michael T. Weber. 1986. 148 pp.

* This description is adapted from work by Nancy E. Horn, an MSU alumnus from the Anthropology Department, published in 1985 “A Project History of Michigan State University’s Participation in International Development for the period 1951 – 1985”.  See AFRE Emeritus Faculty - Acknowledgements