EPI 525 Biostatistics I

Credits: 4
The objective of this 4-credit course is to provide students with a solid background in descriptive and inferential statistical methods, and to provide training and examples of how these methods can be implemented using statistical software. Throughout this course, emphasis will be placed on accurately summarizing and interpreting each statistical analyses so the conclusions are understandable to an audience that may not have formal training in statistics.

The course begins with ways to describe key features of data using various graphs and numerical summary measures. Next, basic probability concepts will be explored to establish the basis for statistical inference; the binomial, Poisson and normal distributions will be introduced. Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing using parametric (normal theory) and non-parametric approaches will be covered for both the one- and two-sample situation. Methods of inference for proportions and the analysis of two-way tables will also be examined. The course ends with an introduction to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation between two variables, and simple linear regression. Throughout this course, emphasis will be placed on selecting the appropriate statistical method(s), computing the necessary quantities (e.g. test statistics, interval estimate), and then interpreting and communicating the results/conclusions. Computer applications using Stata (or R) are included as part of the course to introduce you to basic data management, reading output generated by statistical software, and to assist with the computational/graphical aspects of data analysis. If you are enrolled in BSTA 611 /EPI 625, additional “honors” problems are included as part of each weekly problem set and one additional mid-term project is expected.

Graded: A-F
May be taken only once for credit