2 – Introduction

Introduction

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Chapter 1 – Getting started, presented a brief introduction to statistical thinking, a systematic approach to how we describe and ask questions about the world from data, and a justification for why undergraduate biology students should learn biostatistics. In my day, most of us took statistics as part of our graduate training. The curriculum for science students has accelerated now — it is now assumed that as part of undergraduate career students gain experience working with data and developing quantitative reasoning skills. Biostatistics courses are designed to help you achieve this understanding. 

First up, let’s sell Why biostatistics?

Chapter 2 contents

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• Introduction.
• Why biostatistics?
• Why do we use R Software?
• A brief history of (bio)statistics.
• Experimental Design and rise of statistics in medical research.
• Scientific method and where statistics fits.
• Statistical reasoning.
• Chapter 2 – References and suggested reading.