Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials with SPSS - Softcover

Norman, Geoffrey R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1607951908 ISBN 13: 9781607951902

Publisher: PEOPLE'S MEDICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE, 2014

Synopsis

This new edition of Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials continues the tradition of translating biostatistics in the health sciences literature with clarity and irreverence. Students and practitioners alike applaud Biostatistics as a practical guide that exposes them to every statistical test they are likely to encounter, with careful conceptual explanations and a minimum of algebra.

The previous edition of Bare Essentials presented hierarchical linear modeling, which first appeared in psychology journals and has only recently been described in the medical literature. The 3rd edition also introduced a chapter on testing for equivalence and non-inferiority as well as a chapter with information for getting started with the computer statistics program SPSS.

A very positive review of the 3rd edition of the book by Dr. Naomi Vaisrub appeared in JAMA which praised the book but recommended covering topics in epidemiology, so in the 4th edition the authors took her up on it. They have also included an entirely new chapter, called "Measures of Impact," in which they discuss how to measure incidence and prevalence, risk, morbidity and fatality rates, and the number needed to treat. They also delve into the Poisson distribution for doing regressions on count data. Likewise, the reader will find new sections on robust estimators of the mean, the problems of multiple hypothesis testing, bootstrapping and resampling, as well as an expanded section on nonparametric stats.

Another recommendation the authors have incorporated into the 4th edition is to offer suggestions for how results should be reported in spite of the fact that this can get a bit tricky, since various journals especially in different disciplines report statistics in diverse ways.

Free of calculations and jargon, Bare Essentials speaks so plainly that you will not need a technical dictionary. The focus is on the concepts, not the math. The objective is to enable you to determine whether the research results are applicable to your own patients.

Throughout, you will find highlights of areas in which researchers misuse or misinterpret statistical tests. The authors have labeled these C.R.A.P. Detectors (Convoluted Reasoning and Anti-Intellectual Pomposity), and they help you identify faulty methodology and misuse of statistics.

About this title

About the Author

Geoff Norman is a professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. He received a BSc in physics in 1965 and a PhD in nuclear physics in 1970. While this sounds good at parties, he found that to avoid starvation, he had to switch fields into medical education and later received an MA in educational psychology. He now spends most of his time doing research in cognitive psychology, with a minor in measurement. He is author of about 10 books and over 200 journal articles, most of which are totally forgettable. He has two kids who have grown up and left home to mutual relief, and he now has a granddaughter. He lives in Dundas on a largish spread with a wife, a dog, five cats, and a zillion wild birds. His ambition is to turn his entire backyard into a wooden deck.

David Streiner spent the first 22 years of his life in New York City (which at least partly explains the way this book was written). After a doctorate in clinical psychology from Syracuse University in 1968, he moved to McMaster University (no, not to escape the draft). After 30 years in the Departments of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and of Psychiatry, he retired. The next day, he began life again as the Assistant Vice-President for Research and the Director of the Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is overjoyed that the revision of this book is finished, so he can return to his regular full-time occupation, which is making furniture and wooden toys.

Edition details

• Publisher: PEOPLE'S MEDICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1607951908
• ISBN 13: 9781607951902
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 422