Data & Statistics
Lecturer: Engr. Mirza Muhammad Umer Hassan
RECOMMENDED BOOK:
- Basic Statistics for the Health Sciences
Jan W. KUZMA
What is Data?
Data means:
• Facts
• Numbers
• Measurements
• Observations
Before we study anything, we need information. That
information is called data.
Types of Data Collection
We may define data as figures. Figures result from the process of
counting or from taking a measurement.
A. Counting
• Number of patients
• Number of students
• Number of beds
Counting gives whole numbers
B. Measurement
• Weight
• Height
• Temperature
• Blood pressure
Measurement can give decimal values
What is Raw Data?
Raw data means:
1. Data that is not processed
2. Data in its original form
For example:
• Survey results written in a spreadsheet
• No analysis yet
We’ve performed a survey of 40 respondents
about their favorite car color. And now we have a
spreadsheet of Raw data with the results.
What is a Variable?
A variable is something that:
1. Can change
2. Has different values
Examples:
• Age (changes from person to person)
• Weight
• Gender
• Blood pressure
If it can change, it is a variable.
Types of Data
Types of Data
1) Qualitative (Categorical) Data
• Describes qualities
• Cannot be written as numbers
Examples: Blood group, Eye color, Gender
Type of Qualitative Data:
a) Nominal
• Categories with no order and cannot be ranked
Examples: Male/Female, Single/Married
b) Ordinal
Categories that can be ordered. Ranking is possible.
Examples: Poor → Average → Good, Low → Medium → High
Types of Data
2) Quantitative (Numerical) Data
• Uses numbers
• Can be counted or measured
Type of Quantitative Data:
a) Discrete
• Counted values. It must be whole numbers only.
Examples: Number of patients, Number of deaths.
b) Continuous
Measured values. It can have decimals.
Examples: Age, Weight, Temperature.
Types of Data
1. Qualitative → Names
a) Nominal → No order
b) Ordinal → Ordered
2. Quantitative → Numbers
a) Discrete → Count
b) Continuous → Measure
Sources of Data
We search for suitable data to serve as the raw material for our
investigation. Such data are available from one or more of the
following sources:
1. Routinely kept records.
These are records kept daily.
Examples:
• Hospital patient records
• Accounting records
• Attendance registers
These records already exist, we just use them.
Sources of Data
2. External sources.
The data needed to answer a
question may already exist in
the form of published reports,
commercially available data
banks, or the research
literature.
i.e. someone else has already
asked the same question.
Sources of Data
3. Surveys:
The source may be a survey, if the data needed is about
answering certain questions.
• Online Surveys
• Face-to-face Surveys
• Telephone Surveys
• Paper Surveys
For example:
Clinic asks patients:
“How do you travel to the clinic?”
Answers become data.
Sources of Data
4. Experiments.
Experiments are done when:
• Data does not exist AND We need controlled conditions
Examples:
• Testing a new med
• Observing effects
What is Statistics?
Statistics is a branch of knowledge that deals with:
• Collecting data
– getting information
• Organizing data
– arranging it properly
• Summarizing data
– making it short and simple
• Analyzing data
– understanding what it tells us
• Drawing conclusions
– making decisions
Statistics is not just numbers, its about understanding information
Why Statistics Matters?
We study statistics because:
• The world is full of data
• Data helps us make decisions
• Statistics tells us what numbers actually mean
BIOSTATISTICS
• The tools of statistics are employed in many fields: business,
education, psychology, agriculture, economics etc.
• When statistics is used in hospitals and medical fields, we call it
biostatistics.
• Why Biostatistics is Important?
• Helps doctors make decisions
• Helps researchers find causes of disease
• Helps governments plan healthcare
TYPES OF STATISTICAL METHODS
.
A cohort is a group of people who have something in common
(a characteristic or characteristics suspected of being a
precursor to or risk factor for a disease) and who remain part
of a group over a period.
Medical researchers use this approach to investigate diseases,
find their causes, symptoms, and cure.
For Example: Smokers, Diabetic patients, x-ray exposed
children.
We basically observe a group to see what happens to them.
PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDIES
The researcher assembles the
study groups in the present
time, collects data on them and
then continues to collect data
for a period that can last many
hours to years.
• Starts in the present
• Moves into the future
Example:
• Select healthy people today
• Follow them for years
RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDIES
The researcher goes back into history (old records) to define a risk
group and follows the group members up to the present to see
what outcome (cancer) have occurred.
• Starts in the past
• Uses old records
Example:
• Look at past exposure
• Check current outcome
CASE CONTROL STUDY
• Study starts with the outcome (disease)
• Then looks backward for causes
We first find sick people, then ask why they became sick.
Two Groups in Case-Control Study:
1. Cases: People who have the disease
2. Controls: People who do not have the disease
Example (Very Important):
• Cases: Cancer patients
• Controls: Healthy people
• Compare past habits (smoking, diet, exposure)