Review of Basic Statistics
Successful completion of a formal course in biostatistics or statistics is a prerequisite for this class, but review of the following online learning modules may be very beneficial.
- Biostatistics - Basic Concepts
- Summarizing Data
- Probability
- Confidence Intervals
- Sample Size and Power
- Hypothesis Testing - Means & Proportions
- Hypothesis Testing - ANOVA
- Hypothesis Testing - Chi Squared
- Confounding and Effect Modification
- Correlation & Linear Regression
- Multivariable Methods
- Nonparametric Tests
- Survival Analysis
- Data Presentation
Please take the time to review basic biostatistics concepts and see the instructor if you have not fulfilled this prerequisite.
- Descriptive statistics provide summaries of data and usually include a numerical summary (e.g., counts, rates, means) and a graphical summary (e.g., histograms, plots) of the data.
- Inferential statistics make inferences about populations based on samples from the populations and generally take the form of hypothesis tests or confidence intervals.
- Population parameters are estimated by sample statistics.
Below are a few examples of descriptive statistics. These will be covered in more depth throughout the rest of the course.
Descriptive Statistics – Single Variable
Continuous Variables
Measures of Central Tendency
- Median
- Mode
- Mean
Measures of Dispersion
- Range
- Interquartile Range (IQR)
- Variance
- Standard Deviation (SD)
Graphs
- Histograms
- Scatter Plots
Categorical Variables
Descriptives
- Counts
- Proportions
Graphs
- Bar charts
- Pie charts
Continuous and Categorical
- Means, standard deviations, and sample size per group
- Medians, interquartile ranges, and sample size per group
Two Continuous Variables
- Correlation
- Regression
Two Categorical Variables
- Risk ratios
- Risk differences
- Odds ratios
Note, in addition to categorical and continuous variables, there are identifier variables such as ID or Name. Usually, descriptive statistics should not be calculated for identifier variables.