Week 1 - Lesson 1

Background Week 1 is partly an orientation to the course Biostatistics. This week will also deal with the introductory concepts to Biostatistics. Topics this Week Statistics and Biostatistics and How they are Used Populations and Samples Key Concepts Definition and Importance of Biostatistics Summation Notation Some Rules in Summation Notation Collection of Data Sources and Methods of Data Collection Levels of Measurement of Data Other Types of Data Textbook Reading Activities Read pages 1-12; 15-21 of your textbook. Activity 1 In your groups page, participate in the discussion by posting at least one substantial message on your perceived importance of Biostatistics to your field of specialization. Activity 2 With the assigned topic/s to your group, find at least one very good internet site or Url that you think is useful to that topic/s. Discuss in no more than 2 sentences why it is useful; what important lessons will you get from the url site. Activity 3 Identify at least one lesson you have learned in this weeks discussion and in brief discuss its importance with your groupmates. Journal Activity Find any currently published research article in refereed journals that is related to your field of specialization. Hand this to me for approval within the Week 2 schedule.

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Week 1 - Lesson 1
Definition Statistics is the science that involves the methods and techniques of collection, organization, presentation, evaluation, analysis and interpretation of data. Biostatistics is the application of statistical methods and techniques to the solution of biological problems. Importance and Use of Biostatistics Your textbook discussed the two fundamental uses of statistics, which can be best explained by two categories of problems, namely: problems of estimates and problems of comparison. Problems of Estimates is useful in the field of health. Wherein, the concern among other things is the recognition and quantification of health problems at present and in the future. Likewise, the administrator or the researcher is concerned with the current and projected health manpower of the community/ country, the estimate of services needed to eliminate or reduce the problems, and the corresponding requirements of man, money and materials. Problems of Comparison on the other hand is useful in health administration. Here, comparison is resorted to in diagnosing the health situation, in supervising the implementation of programmes, and in evaluation. Thus, one may for example say, that the infant mortality rate is high because it is beyond a certain figure which is being used as basis of comparison. In the field of clinical medicine, certain base line data through the process of repeated observations have been regarded as the average estimate of certain physiological and anatomical features of human beings and had been considered as normal. These data are then used as basis for comparing observations in individuals to classify them. Thus someone with temperature beyond the normal range is febrile; and one with a diastolic blood pressure of over 90 is a possible hypertensive. In clinical investigation, there is a continuous search for more effective, nontoxic and inexpensive medicines. Studies like these, usually involve the conduct of laboratory and clinical trials, observing the differences manifested by the treated (test) group and the untreated (control) group.

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Week 1 - Lesson 1
Summation Summation is symbolized by sigma , which means the sum or the totality of the characteristics. The denotation : is read as the summation of x sub i where i is from 1 to n. Which means the total of all variable X starting from 1 until the last variable or n.
i =1

Sigma (sum)

x
i =1

Upper subscript (indicates end)

i

subscript variable Lower subscript (indicates start)

However, it is not always the case that it starts with 1 and ends with the last data. Thus,

x
i =1 6 i =1

is equal to x1 + x 2 + x 3 + x 4 + x 5 + x 6 . In statistical symbols it is

i 1 2

x = x + x
5

+ x3 + x 4 + x5 + x6
. .

Another example:

x = x +x +x +x
j 2 3 4

i =2

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Week 1 - Lesson 1
Some Rules in Summation Notation: 1. The summation of the sum of two or more variables is the sum of their summations. In symbols:
(x + y + z ) = x + y + z
i i i i i

i =1

i =1

i =1

i =1

2. If c is a constant, then

c
i =1

= nc .
5

3. If c is a constant, then

i =1

cx i = c x i . i =1

A constant can be taken out the same as in normal adding up of variables:

ax
i =1 6

= ax1 + ax2 + ax3 + ax4 + ax5 + ax6

= a ( x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 ) = a xi
i =1

4. In cases wherein there is more than one subscript, make sure you check that the index numbers match up as in this case, xj has nothing to do with the summation sign:

x x
i =1 i 5

= x1 x j + x2 x j + x3 x j + x4 x j + x5 x j

= x j xi
i =1

5. In case of double summation: Summation signs can be nested, that is, one summation sign can be inside another:

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Week 1 - Lesson 1
x x
i =1 j = 3 i 2 5 j

2 5 = xi x j i =1 j =3 2 5 = xi x j i =1 j =3

= ( xi ( x3 + x4 + x5 ) )
i =1

= ( x3 + x4 + x5 ) xi
i =1

= x j xi
j =3 i =1

If you get confused or stuck on summation notation, it usually helps to expand the expression.

In this case, the two summation expressions can be separated. But we have to be careful! Here are some examples:

( x + a ) = ( x + a ) + ( x
= ( x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 ) + 4a = 4a + xi
i =1 4 i =1 i 1

+ a ) + ( x3 + a ) + ( x4 + a )

More generally,

( xi + a) = na + xi
i =1 i =1

Another example where we need to be careful:

x
k =3

2 k

2 2 2 2 = x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 2

6 2 xk = ( x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 ) k =3 6 x xk k =3 k =3
6 2 k 2

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Week 1 - Lesson 1
Collection of Data In statistics, we always talk of data. But it is important that at this point we discuss data as different from information. Data is raw characteristics or observations, while information is processed data. After sometime, this information can be data also.

E.g. : Your grades are data submitted to the registrar. When you graduate, these grades are processed and are presented in the form of a transcript of record. Your transcript is an information about you when you find a job. When you got hired, the transcript becomes data. However, it is important that we know the type and level of measurement of data we should collect.
Data can be classified as either numeric or nonnumeric. Sources and Methods of Data Collection In general, data can be sourced according to its general classification, that is, whether it a primary or secondary data. Primary data are first hand data while for secondary, you as researcher does not have a direct access to the source of the information. The following are the sources and methods of gathering primary and secondary data:

Primary data:

Direct method (Interview) Indirect method (Questionnaire) Registration Experiment Observation Census Referenda

Secondary Data (sources):

Published and unpublished materials Printed and non printed materials (includes websites or electronic mails, notes and others of the like)

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Week 1 - Lesson 1
Levels of Measurement of Data In general, there are four levels of measurement of data: Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio Nominal data includes data that uses numbers or labels or names to various categories. E.g. student number, plate numbers of vehicles, male, female, yes or no and others of the like. Strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree is an example of nominal data. However, in cases wherein there is a degree or order in the categories given, the data can be classified as ordinal. In ordinal data, the order or the rank of the categories is taken into consideration. E.g. the first child, first honor, first runner up, and others of the like. Interval data on the other hand uses meaningful intervals in the measurements; this is data whose units of measurements can be broken down into smaller units of measurements. It never uses zero as its starting point. e.g. height can be expressed in inches, feet, cm, mm weight can be expressed in terms of pounds, kilograms, grams and others temperature in celcius or in farenheight Ratio data uses zero as its starting point. e.g. 1 male is to 2 female or in mathematical symbol it is 1:2.

Other types of data: Other types of data include the following: Discrete or Continuous Dependent or independent Descriptive or qualitative To further have an idea of these types of data, you may visit the site: http://www.cast.ilstu.edu/hthomas/HSC170/HSC%20170%20CL23.ppt

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