An Introduction to Medical Statistics (Oxford Medicine Publications) - Softcover

Bland, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192615025 ISBN 13: 9780192615022

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1987

Synopsis

This is a textbook in medical statistics for medical students, doctors, medical researchers, and others concerned with medical data. It will also be of interest to students of statistics who wish to learn about the practical applications of statistical methods. The fundamental concepts of study design and statistical inference are explained by illustration and example and, for those who wish to go further, the mathematical background is also described. The book is firmly grounded in medical research and the interpretation of the results of statistical calculations is emphasized. All the data in the many examples are real, from the author's own research and statistical consultation or from the medical literature, to which reference is made where possible. There are 75 multiple-choice questions, with annotated solutions, and 15 exercises in study design and data analysis, with fully explained solutions. The material covered includes the design of clinical trials and epidemiological studies, summarizing and presenting data, probability, standard errors, confidence intervals, significance tests, use of the t and Chi-squared distributions, regression and correlation, rank models, measurement error, reference ranges, mortality data, vital statistics, and the choice of statistical method. readership: medical students; doctors; medical researchers; teachers of statistics.

About this title

Review

"The book seems excellent for the intermediate student who needs a firm grasp of principles and practice. The clarity of the text also makes selected sections suitable for medical students and the numerous examples and diagrams are immensely supportive. It should appeal to many students who might be frightened by less friendly texts." --International Journal of Epidemiology"The coverage is comprehensive for a book of this size and is presented in an eminently readable form." --Statistics in Medicine "The book seems excellent for the intermediate student who needs a firm grasp of principles and practice. The clarity of the text also makes selected sections suitable for medical students and the numerous examples and diagrams are immensely supportive. It should appeal to many students who might be frightened by less friendly texts." --International Journal of Epidemiology "The coverage is comprehensive for a book of this size and is presented in an eminently readable form." --Statistics in Medicine "The book seems excellent for the intermediate student who needs a firm grasp of principles and practice. The clarity of the text also makes selected sections suitable for medical students and the numerous examples and diagrams are immensely supportive. It should appeal to many students who mightbe frightened by less friendly texts." --International Journal of Epidemiology"The coverage is comprehensive for a book of this size and is presented in an eminently readable form." --Statistics in Medicine

From the Author

An Introduction to Medical Statistics
The approach to statistics in my book is firmly embedded in medical research. All the methods described are illustrated with the use of real data, either from my own research or from the medical literature. Equations and formulae are given where appropriate and manual calculation is described, but the use of computers for calculations is emphasised, together with the graphical methods which computers make easy. For those who do not like to take things on trust, mathematical appendices are included which explain the derivation of the various statistical formulae, and graphical simulations are used to illustrate some of the more surprising statistical principles. Sections which cover material not usually included in the undergraduate syllabus are clearly indicated.

Two types of exercises are included: 100 multiple-choice questions of the five branches True/False type, and long exercises involving calculations. Full solutions are given.

You can try before you buy. Specimen sections, including some exercises and answers, can be read on my website.

You can also download most of the data sets used in the book from this site, so that you can try the analyses for yourself.

I hope you like this book. There is a companion book, Statistical Questions in Evidence-based Medicine, by myself and Janet Peacock, which has no calculations but rather is concerned with understanding and interpretation of the statistical methods used in medical research. This is also described, with sample questions and answers, on my web site.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0192615025
• ISBN 13: 9780192615022
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 378