Skip to main content
The Western Journal of Medicine logoLink to The Western Journal of Medicine
. 1983 Nov;139(5):723–729.

Introduction to Biostatistics—An Annotated Bibliography for Medical Researchers

Susan T Sacks, Stanton A Glantz
PMCID: PMC1010993  PMID: 6362205

Abstract

Biostatistical methods have become thoroughly integrated into modern biomedical and clinical research. Nevertheless, every observer who has evaluated articles in medical journals has noted that as many as half the reported results were based on questionable statistical analysis. This situation, combined with the fact that most errors involve relatively simple statistical procedures, points to the need for researchers and practitioners to be able to personally judge the quality of the statistical analyses in what they read. Fortunately, there are several excellent papers and texts available for those interested.

Full text

PDF
723

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Altman D. G. Statistics and ethics in medical research. Misuse of statistics is unethical. Br Med J. 1980 Nov 1;281(6249):1182–1184. doi: 10.1136/bmj.281.6249.1182. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Altman D. G. Statistics in medical journals. Stat Med. 1982 Jan-Mar;1(1):59–71. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780010109. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DerSimonian R., Charette L. J., McPeek B., Mosteller F. Reporting on methods in clinical trials. N Engl J Med. 1982 Jun 3;306(22):1332–1337. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198206033062204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DerSimonian R., Charette L. J., McPeek B., Mosteller F. Reporting on methods in clinical trials. N Engl J Med. 1982 Jun 3;306(22):1332–1337. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198206033062204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Freiman J. A., Chalmers T. C., Smith H., Jr, Kuebler R. R. The importance of beta, the type II error and sample size in the design and interpretation of the randomized control trial. Survey of 71 "negative" trials. N Engl J Med. 1978 Sep 28;299(13):690–694. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197809282991304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Freiman J. A., Chalmers T. C., Smith H., Jr, Kuebler R. R. The importance of beta, the type II error and sample size in the design and interpretation of the randomized control trial. Survey of 71 "negative" trials. N Engl J Med. 1978 Sep 28;299(13):690–694. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197809282991304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Friedman S. B., Phillips S. What's the difference? Pediatric residents and their inaccurate concepts regarding statistics. Pediatrics. 1981 Nov;68(5):644–646. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Glantz S. A. Biostatistics: how to detect, correct and prevent errors in the medical literature. Circulation. 1980 Jan;61(1):1–7. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.61.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Glantz S. A. Biostatistics: how to detect, correct and prevent errors in the medical literature. Circulation. 1980 Jan;61(1):1–7. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.61.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gore S. M. Assessing methods--descriptive statistics and graphs. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1981 Aug 15;283(6289):486–488. doi: 10.1136/bmj.283.6289.486. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gore S. M. Statistics in question. Assessing clinical trials--trial size. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1981 May 23;282(6277):1687–1689. doi: 10.1136/bmj.282.6277.1687. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mainland D. Medical statistics-thinking vs arithmetic. J Chronic Dis. 1982;35(6):413–417. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(82)90055-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. O'Brien P. C., Shampo M. A. Statistics for clinicians. 2. Graphic displays--histograms, frequency polygons, and cumulative distribution polygons. Mayo Clin Proc. 1981 Feb;56(2):126–128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Reed J. F., 3rd, Slaichert W. Statistical proof in inconclusive 'negative' trials. Arch Intern Med. 1981 Sep;141(10):1307–1310. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rothman K. J. A show of confidence. N Engl J Med. 1978 Dec 14;299(24):1362–1363. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197812142992410. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sackett D. L. Bias in analytic research. J Chronic Dis. 1979;32(1-2):51–63. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(79)90012-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Schor S., Karten I. Statistical evaluation of medical journal manuscripts. JAMA. 1966 Mar 28;195(13):1123–1128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Schor S., Karten I. Statistical evaluation of medical journal manuscripts. JAMA. 1966 Mar 28;195(13):1123–1128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wallenstein S., Zucker C. L., Fleiss J. L. Some statistical methods useful in circulation research. Circ Res. 1980 Jul;47(1):1–9. doi: 10.1161/01.res.47.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Western Journal of Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES