Course Syllabus
STA 102 Introduction to Biostatistics
Section 001
Spring 2002

• You encounter statistics on an almost daily basis. Statistics are reported in the newspaper, on TV, and in professional journals. A familiarity with statistics will help you draw an informed opinion on the statistical results you encounter. Many of these more common statistics are covered in this course.
• Statistics is an integral part of scientific research and publication. If you pursue a graduate degree requiring a research thesis, you may use statistics to summarize and show the significance of your research. The nature of your research may require more advanced methods than those presented during this semester. In this case, concepts covered here provide a foundation for further study.
• In your profession you may be required to work with statisticians or interpret their findings. You may even have to analyze data as part of your responsibilities. In such cases the material covered here can be very beneficial.
• Statisticians, in particular, biostatisticians, are a "hot commodity" in today's job market. Check out the Career Center of the American Statistical Association.

Course Objective & Description [Top]

• From Course Catalog:Reading and interpretation of statistical analyses from life science and medical literature. Conceptual bases for using data and understanding uncertainty when making treatment decisions about patients. Includes extensive reading and class discussion of articles from the medical literature. Topics include: basic concepts and tools of probability and conditional probability, independence, two-by-two tables, Simpson's paradox, medical diagnosis, ROC curves, study designs for medical problems, inference and hypothesis testing for RCT's, decision analysis and decision trees, and basic survival analysis. Emphasizes role of biostatistics, drug testing, and clinical trials in modern society.
• Really, our objective is to master all of the material in the text, Principles of Biostatistics. We may occasionally explore the medical literature.

Course Outline [Top]

• Students are expected to devote 6 to 8 hours per week outside of class/lab to studying the course material.
• Everyone is expected to do as many exercises in the text as is necessary to master the material. Suggested homework problems and solutions will be provided. The student solution manual contains the answers to odd numbered problems (on reserve in Perkins). Even numbered solutions will be posted.
• Brief, weekly quizzes will occur during lecture and/or lab. It is suggested that you become comfortable with the homework problems and lab problems since these will be the primary basis for quizzes. Another source of quiz material will be you. You are encouraged to prepare one quiz question and answer to be submitted during the lecture prior to the quiz. You may prepare the question and answer using any resource. You are encouraged to work together to develop thoughtful questions and concise answers appropriate to the course material. You may submit questions/answers individually or as groups. An advantage to you is that, if your question is selected, you will have the chance to improve your quiz score. However, I will have final authority on whether a question/answer will be used on a quiz.
• In addition to the quizzes, you will learn to use the S-Plus statistical software package in the lab. You may be required to submit an occasional (no more than 3) lab assignment to be graded with the same weight as quizzes.
• In addition to (or perhaps instead of) the lab assignments, you will be asked to prepare a "data project". More details will be given as the semester progresses.
• For exams (not quizzes), including the final exam, you may use both sides of one 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper on which you may write almost anything (See Academic Integrity below). Creative interpretation of an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper is not necessary nor encouraged.
• Our goal is to cover nearly all of the material in the text. Lecture topics, course notes, readings, labs, and assignments will be posted in the Course Schedule as the semester progresses. Check the Course Schedule periodically for updates.

Grading [Top]