A Review of Biostatistics: A Program for Self-Instruction, 3d ed.

A Review of Biostatistics: A Program for Self-Instruction, ed 3 This pocket-sized self-instruction booklet addresses the fundamental interpretation of some commonly reported statistical methods for the purpose of improving skills for reading and comprehending scientific literature. It is aimed at students of medicine, public health, and related health professions. Examples cited throughout the text relate to health situations. The contents include educational objectives, definitions, descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, linear regression and correlation, clinical trials, t tests and chi-square tests, and some principles of epidemiology. The booklet also covers frequency distributions for groups. It does not cover the interpretation and discussion of analysis of variance, which includes a group of the most flexible and frequently presented statistical methods in the health literature.

The booklet is very readable and contains ample illustrations, some references, and an index. The format consists of short discussions of basic concepts and questions or statements to be completed by the reader, with answers cited in the right-hand margins of each content page. The author is well published and greatly simplifies the statistical concepts. Students of elementary statistics should find this booklet to their liking as a guide to follow with a text. It is suitable for students of research who want only a cursory understanding of biostatistics.