Research Skills and Critical Thinking in Biostatistics (SL_130)

The course describes and explains the underlying concepts and methods of epidemiology with apt examples and statistical illustrations. All the essentials are included: the person-population dyad, variation, error, bias, confounding, causality, the spectrum of disease, the “iceberg” concept, risk and its relationship to disease frequency, study design, and, finally, some thoughts about the way the discipline of has evolved and is likely to continue to evolve in the lifetime of those now entering upon the careers in this field.

The course aims to introduce biostatistics in medical science with an emphasis on theory, ideas, and epidemiological axioms. The course incorporates numerous challenging exercises, some of them requiring basic mathematical concepts and calculations. The course aims to provide practical applications of biostatistics in medical science. Examples drawn are from contemporary research and public health practice, including health-care policy and planning. The objective is that the student will acquire the depth of knowledge to use concepts and merely to be aware of them. The emphasis is on gaining on understanding, and not calculations, except where this is essential to understanding.