Week 1 Introduction to Statistics in Medical Research Flashcards
A, B
What is the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics?
Descriptive statistics summarize and describe the characteristics of data (mean, median).
Inferential statistics use sample data to make inferences or predictions about a larger population (hypothesis testing, confidence intervals).
What is an example of descriptive statistics?
Summarizing the baseline characteristics of a population, such as reporting the average age of a group of patients.
What is an example of inferential statistics?
Estimating a population mean based on a sample mean.
Why is it important to question statistical inferences?
Inferences may not always follow from the data, and statistics can be misused to create misleading conclusions.
What is an example of dichotomous (binary) data?
Whether a patient is alive or dead, success or failure.
What type of data is represented by medical specialty choices (Pediatrics, Surgery, etc.)?
Categorical data – the categories are unordered with no inherent ranking.
What is an example of ordinal data?
A pain severity scale (none, mild, moderate, severe) – where the categories are ordered, but differences between categories are not necessarily numeric.
What is an example of continuous data?
Height, weight, blood pressure – these can take any value within a range.
What is time-to-event (survival) data?
Data representing the length of time until a particular event occurs, such as death or recovery.
What is an example of rate data?
The number of events per patient over a specific time period.
Is the following example descriptive or inferential statistics? “Testing a statistical hypothesis.”
Inferential statistics – it involves drawing conclusions based on sample data.
Choose the data type for: “The stages of a malignant disease (0, I, II, III, IV).”
Ordinal data – the stages are ordered but the differences between them are not necessarily consistent.
Choose the data type for: “The diastolic blood pressure.”
Continuous data – blood pressure can take any value within a range.
Choose the data type for: “The number of adverse events per year patients experienced.”
Rate data – the number of events measured over time.
What is the role of diagnostic data in statistics, and what are some key terms related to it?
Diagnostic data is used to assess the ability of a test or condition to diagnose another condition.
Sensitivity: The ability of a test to correctly identify those with the condition (true positive rate).
Specificity: The ability of a test to correctly identify those without the condition (true negative rate).
Positive/Negative Predictive Values: The probability that a positive/negative test result is accurate.
Likelihood Ratios: Ratios that help evaluate the usefulness of a diagnostic test.
How would you classify the following data from the dataset based on the data types covered in class?
Gender
BMI
Number of attempts
Gender: Categorical (unordered categories like male, female, etc.)
BMI: Continuous (numerical and can take any value within a range)
Number of attempts: Discrete (counting the number of attempts)
How does the misinterpretation of statistical data lead to faulty inferences?
Misinterpretation of statistical data occurs when conclusions are drawn from data that don’t support them, either because of faulty methods, incomplete data, or bias.
