Common Statistical Methods for Clinical Research with SAS Examples, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

Chapter 1. Introduction & Basics

• 1.1 Statistics—the Field 1

• 1.2 Probability Distributions 4

• 1.3 Study Design Features 9

• 1.4 Descriptive Statistics 13

• 1.5 Inferential Statistics 16

• 1.6 Summary 21

1.1 Statistics—the Field

In some ways, we are all born statisticians. Inferring general patterns from limited knowledge is nearly as automatic to the human consciousness as breathing. Yet, when inference is formalized through the science of mathematics to the field called Statistics, it often becomes clouded by preconceptions of abstruse theory. Let's see if we can provide some formalization to this natural process of rational inference without getting bogged down in theoretical details.

The purpose of the field of Statistics is to characterize a population based ...