Computer Application & Biostatistics

Biostatistcs
• General concepts and terminology
• Sampling methods
• Measurement of location, scale and shape
• Contingency tables and chi-square test
• Comparison of means, t-test, multiple range test
• Simple experimental design and analysis of variance
• Correlation and regression analysis
• Introduction to multivariate methods

Introduction to Biostatistics
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics

-Benjamin Disraeli, quoted by Mark Twain

‘it is easy to lie with statistics, but easier to lie without them’

-Frederick Mosteller

Statistics

• A field of study concerned with the collection, analysis, presentation and interpretation
of data the drawing of inferences about a body of data when only a part of the data is
observed.

Two functions to statistics

Descriptive: Serves to organize, summarize, and describe data

Inferential: Serves to make inferences or generalizations about a total set of individuals or

events on the basis of data from a smaller group

Data

• A collection of facts or measurements during a scientific observation from which

conclusions may be drawn
• Singular-Datum
• The raw material of statistics
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Attribute Data

• Data that consists of classification of the members of the sample into limited number of
classes on the basis of some property of the numbers
o Flower colour
o Gender
• Results from the process of counting

Measurement Data

• data recorded on some numerical scale

o Discrete-when only a restricted number of values occur (e.g. 0,1,2,3,12 children)
o Continuous- if successive values would occur only by tiny amount.

Data Collection

Surveys: In surveys, the researcher is typically interested in describing some population - there
is usually no attempt to manipulate units within the population.

Experiments: In experiments, units from the population are manipulated in some fashion and a
response to the manipulation is observed.

Variables

• things that we measure, control, or manipulate in research

• differ in many respects, most notably in the role they are given in our research and in
the type of measures that can be applied to them
• Variable occurs in differing amounts or kinds. IQ, height, eye colour, blood pressure,
heart rate
• Two types-Qualitative, Quantitative

Qualitative - differs in kind or quality but not amount. Examples: eye colour

Quantitative - differs in amount but not in quality. Examples: IQ

Two kinds of quantitative variables:

• Discrete or discontinuous - can only occur in integer (whole number) amounts.

Examples: number of children in a family
• Continuous - conceivable or possible in any amount. Examples: height

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Scales of Measurement

Nominal or Categorical; Ordinal or Rank Interval; Ratio

Non-Parametric Parametric

• Nominal or Categorical
o allow for only qualitative classification
o we cannot quantify or even rank order those categories
o gender, race, ethnic background, colour, city, etc.
o may be presented by "dummy codes“
• Ordinal or Rank
o Ordinal variables allow us to rank order the items we measure in terms of which
has less and which has more of the quality represented by the variable, but still
they do not allow us to say "how much more." Examples: socioeconomic status
of families, Hardness of rocks, Beauty
• Interval
o a parametric scale (i.e., it has a fixed unit of measurement)
o has an arbitrary zero point (which means the zero point does not truly reflect
absence of the characteristic).
o temperature, as measured in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius, constitutes an
interval scale.
o We can say that a temperature of 40 degrees is higher than a temperature of 30
degrees, and that an increase from 20 to 40 degrees is twice as much as an
increase from 30 to 40 degrees.

• Ratio
o A metric scale because it has an absolute zero (which truly reflects absence of
the characteristic).
o Ratio variables are very similar to interval variables; in addition to all the
properties of interval variables, they feature an identifiable absolute zero point,
thus they allow for statements such as x is two times more than y.
o Kelvin temperature, speed, height
o the Kelvin temperature scale is a ratio scale, not only can we say that a
temperature of 200 degrees is higher than one of 100 degrees, we can correctly
state that it is twice as high.
o Interval vs Ratio Scales

Interval scales do not have the ratio property. Most statistical data analysis procedures do
not distinguish between the interval and ratio properties of the measurement scales.
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Relationships between Variables

(Rowntree 2000: 33)

Population vs Sample

• Population: A collection of subjects or events that share a common characteristic

• Sample: A small collection from some larger aggregate (the population) about which we
wish information; the (representative) subset of the population that are observed

Parameter vs Statistic

• Parameter: A description or a numerical measure of some characteristic of a population.

It is fixed or constant & symbolized with Greek letters.
• Statistic or Estimate: A description of some characteristic of a sample or a numerical
quantity computed from the sample.
o only a guess as to the true value of the population parameter.
o It may vary & typically symbolized with English letters.

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 • Provided the sample adequately represents the population (is sufficiently large and
unbiased), the sample statistics should be reliable estimates of the population
parameters of interest.
• most statistical procedures assume that sample observations have been drawn
randomly from populations to maximize the likelihood that the sample will truly
represent the population

In statistics, we use samples to estimate the parameters of a population

The Science of Statistics is all about measurement and variation. If there was no variation, there
would be no need for statistical methods.

Statistical softwares

SAS, SPSS, Systat, Statistica, MINITAB, Stata, BMDP, Excel??

Graphical software

From list above plus Sigmaplot, Origin, Grapher, PowerPoint??, Excel??

Suggested Readings

 Glantz, S. A. (2002) Primer of Biostatistics, 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill.

 Logan, Murray (2010) Biostatistical Design and Analysis Using R- A Practical Guide.
Wiley-Blackwell, U.K.
 Zar, JH. 1999. Biostatistical Analysis (4th edition). Prentice Hall.
 Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F. J. Introduction to Biostatistics. W H Freeman & Co, USA.
 Sokal, Robert R. and Rohlf, F. J. Biometry: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in
Biological Research.