Making Sense of Medical Statistics: A Bite Sized Visual Guide
Do you want to know what a parametric test is and when not to perform one? Do you get confused between odds ratios and relative risks? Want to understand the difference between sensitivity and specificity? Would like to find out what the fuss is about Bayes' theorem? Then this book is for you! Physicians need to understand the principles behind medical statistics. They don't need to learn the formula. The software knows it already! This book explains the fundamental concepts of medical statistics so that the learner will become confident in performing the most commonly used statistical tests. Each chapter is rich in anecdotes, illustrations, questions, and answers. Not enough? There is more material online with links to free statistical software, webpages, multimedia content, a practice dataset to get hands-on with data analysis, and a Single Best Answer questionnaire for the exam.
Review
'An accessible book by a practising doctor, aimed at other doctors, which explains key statistical concepts in words and pictures. An excellent foundation for those seeking to understand the numbers in medical journal articles and quantitative reports.' Professor Trish Greenhalgh, University of Oxford, UK
'Statistics forms the starting point for evidence based medicine, though most medics would argue that their own statistical awareness is still near the starting point! This book eases you into the awesome, exciting, exhilarating world of statistics, and makes you understand just how cool it really is. It will unleash your inner statistician that no-one knew existed - especially you!' Professor Dan Perry, Children's Orthopaedic Surgeon and Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK
'The book provides a light-hearted introduction to the basic concepts in medical statistics. A couple of hundred pages long with short chapters, the book delivers with clear focus the key statistical concepts alongside some general knowledge to lighten what is sometimes a very arid subject. The description of concepts with graphs and figures support the visual learner. I thoroughly enjoyed the quick questions presented alongside the description of concepts to test understanding, with the answers at the end of chapter which linked to bullet point summaries, help to consolidate the concepts covered. I thought it was an excellent way for someone to start on their path to understanding this area. Finally, I particularly appreciated the last chapter with its focus on the work by our dear friend Doug Altman.' Professor Rafael Perera, Professor of Medical Statistics, University of Oxford, UK
'This is an excellent introductory book for medical statistics. It's well written, easy to read, with some great examples of statistics in everyday clinical practice. The question and answer format is especially useful in reinforcing key concepts discussed in the chapter. There are lots of additional learning material included in the online resource for those seeking a more detailed understanding of the topic. The author is to be congratulated on making an important but difficult subject appear relatively straightforward and interesting to even the non-expert.' Professor Paul Banaszkiewicz, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon North East NHS Surgical Centre (NENSC), Gateshead, UK, and Visiting Professor Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
'The modern practice in orthopaedic and trauma surgery is a completely different practice to that which many of us grew up with and is now firmly founded on research and evidence. And this evidence itself is built around scientific method and statistical analysis. This excellent book provides a comprehensive guide to biostatistics for the orthopaedic surgeon and aspiring clinician scientist. Through clear explanations of complex concepts the author succeeds in simplifying the difficult and I am sure this will become an essential reference for all involved in orthopaedic surgery.' Professor Ben Ollivere, Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma, University of Nottingham, UK
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