Lesson 1: Biostatistics

• Biostatistics is the application of statistical methods to biological and health-related data.
• Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data.
• Data is information from observations, counts, measurements, or responses.
• Types of data include Qualitative and Quantitative

  
  

  Where quantitative ,

  1. Discrete (whole number)
  2. Continuous (fraction/ ratio).
• Data sets can be Population (parameter) or Sample (statistics).
• There are two branches of statistics: Descriptive, which organizes, summarizes, and displays data, and Inferential, which involves using a sample.
• Levels of measurement include Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio.
• Nominal is the lowest level of measurement, where categories, names, labels, qualities, and mathematical operations cannot be used.
• Ordinal is either Qualitative or Quantitative.
• Interval is the difference between two entries and does not have an inherent zero.
• Ratio is the highest level of measurement, where a zero entry is an inherent zero and the ratio of two data values can be formed so that one data can be meaningfully expressed as a multiple of another.
• Data can be moved from one level of measurement to another.
• Statistical analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing large volumes of data in order to interpret results.
• There are two ways of conducting surveys: Interviews and Questionnaires.
• Measures of central tendency include mean, median, mode, and midpoint.
• Methods of Data Collection

  1. s - imulation
  2. e - xperiment
  3. s - urvey
  4. c - ensus
  5. o - observation
  6. s - ampling