Statistics

This branch covers the statistical reasoning used to interpret and report research, divided by the question: describing observations, expressing uncertainty and testing hypotheses, comparing groups and modelling outcomes, and understanding the methods’ historical development. It leaves study and analysis planning to study design, numerical presentation to presenting numbers, evidence appraisal to appraising and interpreting evidence, and collaboration with statisticians to working with biostatisticians.

• Describing a dataset — centre, spread, distributions, choice of summary and variation hidden by group summaries
• Uncertainty and hypothesis tests — estimates, confidence intervals, P values, errors, power, multiple comparisons and clinical importance
• Comparing groups and modelling outcomes — statistical comparisons, associations, measures and fitted models
• How statistical reasoning entered medicine — group comparisons, probability, controlled experiments, statistical institutions and individual care