Introduction to Biostatistics

By
Assistant professor
Dr. Nazar Ahmed Al-Jaf
 Statistics has its roots in the idea of “the state of things”. The

word itself comes from the ancient Latin term statisticum

collegium, meaning "council of state".

 Eventually, this evolved into:

 The Italian word statista, meaning “statesman”,

 The German word Statistik, meaning “collection of data

involving the State”.

 Gradually, the term came to be used to describe the collection

of any sort of data.
 Statistics can be defined as an applied science which deals with
collection, compilation, analysis and interpretation of data.

 A more complete definition of statistics is:

“A collection of procedures and principles for gathering data

and analyzing information to help people make decisions when
faced with uncertainty” (Heckard, 2014).

 So, the statistics is a field of study concerned with

(1) the collection, organization, summarization, and analysis of

data; and

(2) The drawing of inferences about a body of data when only

a part of the data is observed.
Need for Understanding Statistics (Importance of Biostatistics)

1. To Understand Scientific Literature

2. To Develop a Logical Reasoning

3. To Develop a Good Research Problem

4. To Assess the Authenticity of Research Findings

5. To Develop Measurement Scales

6. To Develop Questionnaire

7. To Conduct Research
Biostatistics:

 The tools of statistics are employed in many fields: business,

education, psychology, agriculture, economics, … etc.

 When the data analyzed are derived from the biological

science, medicine, and health sciences, they are referred to as
Biostatistics

 We use the term biostatistics to distinguish this particular

application of statistical tools and concepts.

 So, Biostatistics is a statistical processes and methods applied

to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of biological data
and especially data relating to human biology, health, and
medicine
Data
 The raw material of statistics is data.

 Data may define as figures (numbers). Figures result

from the process of counting or from taking a
measurement.

For example:

 When a hospital administrator counts the number of

patients (counting).

 When a nurse weights a patient (measurement).

 Data from Samples and Populations

• Sample data: are collected when measurements are

taken from a subset of a population.
• Population data: are collected when all individuals
in a population are measured.
• in a census, data are collected from all members of
a population.

Parameters and Statistics

• A statistic is a summary measure of sample data.
• A parameter is a summary measure of population data.
 Sources of data
1. Routinely kept records: Hospital medical records contain
immense amounts of information on patients.
2. External sources: The data already exists in the form of
published reports, commercially available data banks, or
the research literature, i.e. someone else has already
asked the same question.
3. Surveys: A survey may be conducted to obtain
unanswered information.
4. Experiments: Frequently the data needed to answer a
question are available only as of the result of an
experiment.
Variable

• This is derived from variation in living and non-living

things.
• A variable is a characteristic that can differ from one
individual to the next.
• For example, demographic variables describe basic
characteristics of human populations, such as gender,
age, ethnicity, marital status, number of children,
education level, employment status, and income.
Types of variables

1. Independent Variable: -

Is presumed cause, manipulated by researcher to

observe the effect.

2. Dependent Variable: -

Is the response or outcome the researcher wish to

explain or predict.
Qualitative (Categorical) variables vs Quantitative variables

Categorical variables take category or label values, and place

an individual into one of several groups.

Categorical variables are often further classified as either:

• Nominal, when there is no natural ordering among the
categories. Common examples would be gender, eye color, or
ethnicity.

• Ordinal, when there is a natural order among the categories,

such as, ranking scales or letter grades. However, ordinal
variables are still categorical and do not provide precise
measurements.
Qualitative (Categorical) variables vs Quantitative variables

Quantitative variables take numerical values, and represent some kind

of measurement.
Quantitative variables are often further classified as either:
• Discrete, when the variable takes on a countable number of values.
such as 0,1,2,3. but not 2.6 or 3.415 etc e.g.:
- the number of patients in a hospital
- the number of students in a class
- the number of children in a family
• Continuous, when the variable can take on any value in some range
of values. Examples:
• The age of an individual
• The weight of an individual which can be 127 kg, 128.2kg etc.
 DATA MEASUREMENT
The collected data must be appropriate and dependable
for attaining the goals of any research study. This is
possible if suitable methods and tools are used for
measuring the data or information. For example,
• The knowledge of students can be measured by asking
questions in written examination or viva voce,
• Whereas their professional behaviour can be measured
only by an observation checklist and not by a written
examination.
Measurement: Is the process of assigning numbers to variables

and may be direct or indirect.

• Direct measurements

Examples of direct measurements are height, weight, vital signs,

and physiological parameters.

• Indirect measurements

Examples of indirect measurements are pain, stress, coping,

self-esteem, and perception, concrete measurement is not

possible, because the levels are not always consistent.

There are four levels of measurement, which are also known as

measurement scales.

1. Nominal level of measurement:

A nominal scale is the lowest form of measurement because the

numbers are simply used as labels, representing categories or

characteristics, and there is no order to the categories (i.e., no

category is higher or lower). Examples of nominal variables are

gender (male, female), religion (Muslim, Christian), marital status

(married, unmarried), and region of residence (urban, rural).

2. Ordinal level of measurement:

The data are assigned to categories that can be rank-ordered

such as higher or lower, but the exact differences between the

ranks cannot be specified.

Examples:

• Anxiety levels of people in a therapy group might be

categorized as mild, moderate, and severe.

• Knowledge of students in a class might be categorized as

high, moderate, and low.

3. Interval level of measurement:

The distance between the ranks. For example, a reading of

37°C might be one category, 37.2°C might be another

category, and 37.4°C might constitute a third category. there

is 0.2°C difference between the first and second category and

third category.
4. Ratio level of measurement:

• Is the highest form of measurement.

• Data that can be categorized and ranked; in addition, the

distance between ranks can be specified, and a “true” or

natural zero point can be identified. For example, the

number of pain medication requests made by patients, it

would be possible for some patients to request no pain

medications.
• For more precision in data analysis, it is better to use

higher levels of measurement, such as interval or ratio.

• Nominal and ordinal data are classified under categorical or

discrete type of variables.

• Continuous type of variables is classified as interval and

ratio data.
Population

 is a complete set of persons or objects that possess

some common characteristic of interest to the
researcher.

 For example: The weights of all the children enrolled

in a certain elementary school.

 Populations may be finite or infinite

 A population or collection of entities may however

be animals, machines, plants and cells or even
patients.
Populations and Samples
 Although researchers are always interested in populations, an
entire population is generally not used in a research study.

 Therefore, a sample or subset of the population is selected to

represent the population.

 When a sample is chosen properly, the researcher is able to

make claims about the population based on data from the
sample alone.

 The method of selection and the sample size determine how

representative a sample is of the population.
 TYPES OF SAMPLING METHODS
• Samples are chosen through two types of sampling procedures:
probability and nonprobability.
• Probability sampling, or random sampling, involves the use of a
random selection process to obtain a sample from members or
elements of a population.
• More representative samples than nonprobability designs
• Four types of random sampling procedures are: simple, stratified,
cluster, and systematic.
• In nonprobability sampling, the sample elements are chosen from the
population by non-random methods.
• A major disadvantage is their potential for bias.
• Types of non-random sampling procedures are: convenience, quota,
and purposive.
 Types of random sampling

1. Simple random sampling: involves the random selection of

elements from a sampling frame that enumerates all the elements.
2. Stratified random sampling: divides the population into
homogeneous subgroups from which elements are selected at
random.
3. Cluster sampling (or multistage sampling): involves the successive
selection of random samples from larger to smaller units.
4. Systematic sampling: is the selection of every kth case from a list.
By dividing the population size by the desired sample size, the
researcher establishes the sampling interval, which is the standard
distance between the selected elements.
 Types of non-random sampling

1. Convenience sampling: uses the most readily available or most

convenient group of people for the sample. Snowball sampling is a
type of convenience sampling in which referrals for potential
participants are made by those already in the sample.
2. Quota sampling: divides the population into homogeneous strata
(subpopulations) to ensure representation of the subgroups in the
sample; within each stratum, subjects are sampled by convenience.
3. Purposive (or judgmental) sampling: participants are hand-picked
to be included in the sample based on the researcher’s knowledge
about the population.
 Types of Sampling Methods

Probability Sampling Non-Probability Sampling

Simple random sampling Convenience Sampling

Stratified random sampling

Quota Sampling

Cluster random sampling

Systematic random sampling Purposive Sampling

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Populations and Parameters
• When discussing numerical characteristics of
populations, the word parameters is used.
• When discussing numerical characteristics of samples,
the term statistics is used.
• Population and parameter both begin with a p, and
sample and statistics both begin with an s.

parameters statistics
 Classifications of statistics

There are two broad classifications of statistics:

descriptive and inferential.
1. Descriptive statistics:
Are those statistics that organize and summarize
numerical data gathered from samples.
2. Inferential statistics:
Are concerned with populations and use sample data
to make an “inference” about a population.