Community & Family Medicine 104: Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Bernard Cole

The overall objective of Biostatistics and Epidemiology is to introduce the scientific method as it relates to studies conducted in humans, where relationships and effects are often obscured by random variation. Emphasis is on the interpretation of the various study designs used today and the analysis methods used to evaluate the resulting quantitative data. Students who complete the course will be able to effectively read a published medical study by (i) identifying the research design used, (ii) quantitatively evaluating the effects observed, and (iii) interpreting the study with respect to its advantages and limitations. Topics include errors and bias, distributions and variation, hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, measurement of risk, confounding, analysis of means and contingency tables, regression methods, research design, evaluation of diagnostic tests, decision analysis, screening and prevention, and population statistics.

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