DAVAO DOCTORS COLLEGE

MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

STUDENT NOTES: Biostatistics and Epidemiology

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS o If n is even, the median is the

✓ Deals with the collection and presentation of data and average of the 2 middle number
collection of summarizing values to describe its group ▪ Mode - Value that occurs most often
characteristics o Unimodal - A data set that has
only one value that occurs with
the greatest frequency
DATA o Bimodal - If a data set has two
✓ gathered body of facts values that occur with the same
✓ central thread of any activity greatest frequency, both values
✓ Understanding the nature of data is most fundamental for are mode
proper and effective use of statistical skills o Multimodal - If a data set has
more than two values that occur
❖ TYPES OF DATA with the same greatest
o According to Source: frequency, each value is used
▪ Primary Data – interview, registration, as the mode
experiment, questionnaire, etc. o No mode - When no data value
▪ Secondary Data – book, journal, occurs more than once
newpaper, thesis, dissertation, etc. ▪ Percentiles - values that divide the
distribution into 100 equal parts. P10 or
o Accoding to Functional Relationship tenth percentile locates the point that is
▪ Independent Data – refers to any greater than 10 percent of the items in the
controlling data distribution
▪ Dependent Data – refers to any data that ▪ Deciles - values that divide a distribution
is affected by controlling data into 10 equal parts. The 1st decile is the
10th percentile; the 2nd decile is the 20th
❖ Methods of Collecting Data percentile….
o Objective Methods ▪ Quartiles - Divide an array into four equal
o Subjective Methods parts, each part having 25% of the
o Use of Existing Records distribution of the data values. The 1st
quartile is the 25th percentile; the 2nd
quartile is the 50th percentile, also the
❖ Methods in Presenting Data
median and the 3rd quartile is the 75th
o Textual
percentile.
o Tabular
o Graphical
❖ Measures of dispersion
o single value that is used to describe the spread of
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS MEASURES the distribution
❖ Measure of Location o A measure of central tendency alone does not
o summarizes a data set by giving a “typical value” uniquely describe a distribution
within the range of the data values that describes its
location relative to entire data set
▪ Minimum and Maximum – MIN is the
smallest value in the data set while MAX
is the largest value in the data set
▪ Mean – It is the average of the data
• Properties of the Mean
o Uniqueness
o Simplicity
o Affected by extreme
values
▪ Median - Divides the observations into
two equal parts
o If n is odd, the median is the
middle number.
 o Types of Measures od Dispersion ❖ Three properties of probability theory
▪ Absolute Measures of Dispersion 1. Given some process ( or experiment) with n
▪ Range – difference between the mutually exclusive outcomes ( called events),
maximum and minimum value in E1, E2, . . . , En, the probability of any event Ei is
a data set assigned a nonnegative numbers. That is,
▪ Interquartile Range - distance P(Ei) ≥ 0
or range between the 25th 2. The sum of the probabilities of the mutually
percentile and the 75th exclusive outcomes is equal to 1.
percentile P(E1) + P(E2) + ... + P(En) = 1
▪ Variance – it measure ✓ This is the property of
dispersion to the scatter of the EXHAUSTIVENESS
values about there mean 3. Consider any two mutually exclusive events, Ei
▪ Standard Deviation – is the and Ej. The probability of the occurence of either
square root of variance Ei or Ej is equal to the sum of their individual
• ±1SD = 68.3% probabilities.
• ±2 SD = 95.4% P(Ei + Ej) = P(Ei) + P(Ej)
• ±3SD = 99.7%
❖ Calculating the probability of an event
▪ Relative Measure of Dispersion 1. Conditional Probability
▪ Coefficient of Variation – is a ✓ The condtional probability of A given B,
measure use to compare the denoted P(A\B), is the probability that
dispersion in two sets of data event A has occurred in a trial of a random
which is independent of the unit experiment for which it is known that event
of the measurement B has occurred.
2. Joint Probability
❖ Symmetry ✓ Calculates the likelihood of two events
o A distribution is said to be symmetric about the occurring together and at the same point
mean, if the distribution to the left of mean is the in time
“mirror image” of the distribution to the right of the 3. The Multiplication Rule
mean 4. The Addition Rule
▪ Skewness - measure of symmetry, or 5. Independent Events
more precisely, the lack of symmetry. A ✓ When P(A\B) = P(A) * P(B) holds, which in
distribution, or data set, is symmetric if it turn is true if and only if P(B\A) = P(B)
looks the same to the left and right of the 6. Complementary Events
center point 7. Marginal Events
• Positively Skew
• Negatively Skew
• Symmetrical REFERENCES:
Distribution/Equal • Daniel, W. W. (2005). Biostatistics: A foundation for analysis
▪ Kurtosis - measure of whether the data in the health sciences (8th ed.). Philippines: Mindmover
are peaked or flat relative to a normal Publishing. doi:570.15195/D221
distribution. • Nuevo, J. M. (2019). Biostatistics and epidemiology.
• Leptokurtic Powerpoint presentation.
• Mesokurtic (Normal) • Bluman, A. G. (2012). Elementary statistics: a step by step
approach (8th ed.). 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York,
• Platykurtic
NY 10020: McGraw-Hill Companies
PROBABILITY
✓ a branch of mathematics which deals with the study of possible
outcomes of an event or set of events together with the
outcomes' relative likelihood and distributions
o Two types of probability:
1. Objective probability
a. Classical Probability –
calculated by the process of
abstract reasoning
b. Relative Frequency Probability
– depends on the repeatability
of some process and the ability
to count
2. Subjective probability – based upon an
educated guess