Vital statistics : an introduction to health-science statistics / Stephen McKenzie ; with contributed chapters by Dean McKenzie. [electronic resource]

Text in English.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Front cover; Vital statistics; Copyright page; Table of Contents; Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgments; Reviewers; Dedication; 1 A fool-resistant introduction to statistics (Hardly anything is foolproof.); Objectives; Introduction; What statistics really are and how they can help; Statistics: what's in them for me?; The purpose of statistics; Statistics as evidence; Some useful statistical tips; Statistics in the health sciences: background; Statistics in the health sciences: foreground; Some interesting health-science uses and abuses of statistics; An early example; A modern example.

Health-science information versus health-science disinformationConclusion; Quick reference summary; References; 2 Statistics as information; Objectives; Introduction; Data; Data scales; The nominal scale; The ordinal scale; The interval scale; The ratio scale; The scales of data justice; Data distributions; The binomial distribution; The normal distribution; Normal distribution spotting; Assumption of normally distributed data; Variables; Types of variable; Standardisation of data; Percentiles; The z-score; Conclusion; Quick reference summary; References; 3 Descriptive statistics; Objectives.

IntroductionThe purpose of descriptive statistics; Measures of central tendency; The mean; The median; The mode; Measures of dispersion; The variance; The standard deviation; Graphs and plots; The histogram and the bar chart; The pie chart; Box plot; How to recognise descriptive statistical untruths; Misleading levels of accuracy; Misleading graphs; Misleading numbers; Incomplete data; Conclusion; Quick reference summary; References; 4 Probability; Objectives; Introduction; Probability and statistics; Applied probability theory; Coin tossing; Birth ratios; Gambling; Health sciences.

Probability distributionsThe binomial probability distribution; The normal probability distribution; Subjective probability; Conclusion; Quick reference summary; References; Further reading; 5 Inferential statistics, sampling and hypothesis testing; Objectives; Introduction; A definition; Sampling; Characteristics of good samples; Random selection; Characteristics of not-so-good samples; Sample selection bias: a historical example; Sample selection bias: a health-science example; Hypothesis testing; The null hypothesis; A health-science example; The alternative hypothesis.

A health-science exampleDirectional and non-directional hypotheses; Hypothesis testing epilogue; Inferential statistical testing procedure; A general example; A health-science example; Background; The research sequence; Conclusion; Quick reference summary; References; 6 Significance testing, beyond significance testing, and experimental design; Objectives; Introduction; Significance testing; Some health-science examples; Levels of significance; Significance testing error types; Beyond statistical significance; Effect size; A health-science example of the importance of effect size.

Vital Statistics: an introduction to health science statistics e-book is a new Australian publication. This textbook draws on real world, health-related and local examples, with a broad appeal to the Health Sciences student. It demonstrates how an understanding of statistics is useful in the real world, as well as in statistics exams. Vital Statistics: an introduction to health science statistics e-book is a relatively easy-to-read book that will painlessly introduce or re-introduce you to the statistical basics before guiding you through more demanding statistical chal.

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