Basic Statistics and Epidemiology: a Practical Guide

Basic Statistics and Epidemiology is a straightforward primer in basic statistics that emphasizes its practical use in epidemiology and public health, providing an understanding of essential topics such as study design, data analysis and statistical methods used in the execution of medical research. Assuming no prior knowledge, the clarity of the text and care of presentation ensure those new to, or challenged by, these topics are given a thorough introduction without being overwhelmed by unnecessary detail. An understanding and appreciation of statistics is central to ensuring that professional practice is based on the best available evidence, in order to treat and help most appropriately the wider community. By reading this book, students, researchers, doctors, nurses and health managers will have the knowledge necessary to understand and apply the tools of statistics and epidemiology to their own practice.

1. What Are Statistics? 2. Populations and Samples. 3. Random Sampling. 4. Presenting Data. 5. Frequencies, Percentages, Proportions and Rates. 6. Types of Data. 7. Mean, Median and Mode. 8. Centiles. 9. Standard Deviation. 10. Standard Error. 11. Normal Distribution. 12. Confidence Intervals. 13. Probability. 14. Hypothesis Tests and P-Values. 15. The t-Tests. 16.Data Checking. 17. Parametric and Non-Parametric Tests. 18. Correlation and Linear Regression. 19. Analysis of Variance and Some Other Types of Regression. 20. Chi-Squared Test. 21. Statistical Power and Sample Size. 22. Effect Size. 23. What Is Epidemiology? 24.Bias and Confounding. 25. Measuring Disease Frequency. 26. Measuring Association in Epidemiology. 27. Cross-sectional studies.28. Questionnaires. 29. Cohort Studies. 30. Case⁰́₃Control Studies. 31. Randomised Controlled Trials. 32. Screening. 33.Evidence-Based Healthcare. Glossary of Terms. Appendix 1-Statistical Tables. Appendix 2-Exercises. Appendix 3-Answers to Exercises. References. Index.