Great advances in medicine were achieved following application of statistical analysis to research findings in the early 20th century. Armed with a formal mechanism to analyze data, investigators could reject empirical claims that treatments such as blistering and bloodletting were beneficial. Structured clinical trials with results analyzed in objective ways paved the way for improved health care by proving that vaccinations and surgical antisepsis were effective.
Statistical analysis of data has proven highly successful for ensuring that medical research findings are objectively analyzed, minimizing the risk of promoting practices solely on empirical evidence. Courses in statistics are a required part of every medical school curriculum. Unfortunately, most physicians only acquire a superficial understanding of statistics. A limited understanding of these analytic techniques can be harmful. Most clinicians equate a P value of less than .05 with the . . . [Full Text of this Article]
CALCULATIONS
Effect Size Indices for Independent Means
Effect Size Indices for Proportions
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient r
Comparing 2 Correlation Coefficients
One-Way Analysis of Variance
Multiple Regression
2 Analysis
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Effect Size Indices for Independent Means
Effect Size Indices for Proportions
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient r
Comparing 2 Correlation Coefficients
One-Way ANOVA
2 Analysis
AUTHOR INFORMATION
