Biostatistics

At the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. demonstrate knowledge of interval estimation and hypothesis testing; 2. apply the correct statistical method to analyse one or more variables; 3. interpret statistical results effectively and correctly; 4. appreciate the importance of data and demonstrate reasonable statistical skills; and 5. explain the concept of sampling from a study population in a health study.

The course is planned to equip the undergraduates in all the disciplines of health sciences with the necessary tools and skills for collecting, analysing, interpreting data quantitatively. Topics to be covered include: The central role of statistics in health sciences disciplines, data description, elements of probability. Description of random variables. Applications of the binomial and normal distributions. Estimation and confidence intervals. Contingency tables. Regression and variance analysis. Study design and hypothesis testing for practical purposes. Students are provided with specific data to work on and are also required to develop simple questionnaire protocols for analysis.