No comments about The Statistical Analysis of Functional MRI Data (Statistics for Biology and Health).

5 comments about An Introduction to Medical Statistics (Oxford Medical Publications).

1. This is the second edition of an excellent introductory text for medical students similar to Doug Altman's. Bland covers the basics: designing clinical trials and epidemiological studies, data collection, summarizing data, basic probability, standard errors and confidence intervals along with tests of significance (both parametric and nonparametric). Various types of regression methods are covered and this edition adds Cox proportional hazards models and meta-analysis. Many exercises and examples are taken from Bland's 20 years of experience as a medical statistician. It is noteworthy for dealing with sample size issues in Chapter 18. Mortality statistics and life tables are covered in Chapter 16.

   The book is not quite as advanced as Altman's.




2. Clearly and logically set out starting with the reasons for medical statistics and how studies are designed and moving logically to the methods used. All practicing doctors need to know something about medical statistics. This is a very good place to start. It is written for non-mathematicians but has enough mathematics to justify the information presented and stimulate further interest. It is a relatively short book with clear logical explanations rather than flashy illustrations and computer graphics. Also provides exercises, essential in all mathematical subjects.



3. It's an okay text but the author quotes himself a lot. I just wish all the tables and formulas were in a specific location and the symbols for the formulas defined each time a new one was presented.



4. Seems a good basic sufficent stand-alone stats book for medical professional (ie non specialised statistician), although admittedly I haven't used many others to compare, covering a comprehensive cross section of the commonly used medical science stats techniques, with excellent basic maths / stats principles that are relatively easy to understand for those with a basic mathematics background (higher secondary school). Possibly too light on for some more complex stat techniques (eg multi-variate analysis - eg no mention of cluster or hierarchial or other specifically indicated analysis etc.) - ie newer edition mayn't have moved sufficiently with the times. Nonetheless a good solid stats background, very readable, and responsible in imploring appropiate use of stats. Very usable reference and / or learning book.



5. This is the second edition of an excellent introductory text for medical students similar to Doug Altman's. Bland covers the basics: designing clinical trials and epidemiological studies, data collection, summarizing data, basic probability, standard errors and confidence intervals along with tests of significance (both parametric and nonparametric). Various types of regression methods are covered and this edition adds Cox proportional hazards models and meta-analysis. Many exercises and examples are taken from Bland's 20 years of experience as a medical statistician. It is noteworthy for dealing with sample size issues in Chapter 18. Mortality statistics and life tables are covered in Chapter 16.
   The book is not quite as advanced as Altman's.

1 comments about Study Design and Statistical Analysis: A Practical Guide for Clinicians.

1. I think It is a good support for clinicians who are intented to know statistical bases before submission of a scientific paper.

2 comments about Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires.

1. In an era of accountability, McDowell and Newell do an excellent job of pulling together instruments to assess patients' health. Although this volume was primary designed for Occupational and Physical Therapists, it should have a broader audience. It includes over 80 instruments with a summary on how to employ each device with estimates of reliability and validity. They give more than adequate details to enable the professional to make decisions regarding the quality and appropriateness of each single measure. Users of these tools need to comprehend the extreme lengths that it took for McDowell and Newell to accomplish their task. Their work is truly impressive. On pages 47-50, the authors do a particularly good job explaining the difference between ADL and IADL.

   In addition, the authors do a particularly good job in providing technical details needed by professionals to make decisions about the need and appropriateness of an instrument to serve the specific needs of a patient. Students who are learning about calibration of psychometric instruments will also find the work beneficial. They will immediately see the practical application of theoretical concepts presented in classroom decisions. I have placed this fine book on closed serve for students to use after my presentation on reliability and validity.

   Every university library should adopt a copy this is fine monograph.




2. Great resource. A gold-standard for anyone in the field of health psychology

1 comments about Principles and Practice of Public Health Surveillance.

1. This text book is an excellent reference for epidemiologists and health professionals who need to establish surveillance systems. The text book takes the beginner by the hand and explains what to do (what are the essential tasks required to decide, what data do you need to collect, and what for what specific purpose you might use it) and how to do it (steps to take and considerations in management of systems and quality control) and how to make sense of the data you've collected (data analyses).
   
   Not only is this text for beginners, but also for seasoned epidemiologists and other health professionals who are branching out into disease surveillance. I endorse it wholeheartedly.

No comments about Study Guide to Epidemiology And Biostatistics (Study Guide to Epidemiology and Biostatistics) (Study Guide to Epidemiology and Biostatistics).

4 comments about Clinical Epidemiology: How to Do Clinical Practice Research (CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY (SACKETT)).

1. Se trata de un libro útil para aquellas personas interesadas en realizar investigación clínica. No se requieren conocimientos profundos en estadística y ofrece herramientas prácticas para resolver los problemas más frecuentes a los que se tiene que enfrentar un investigador. Muy interesante el capítulo de David Sackett sobre los factores relacionados con el éxito de un investigador clínico.



2. Whenever you heard about epidemiology you think of a dull paper impossible to read. This book is quite different, first it is written by people who actually perform research and use their own research as examples, second they follow a line left by the amazing Dr. Sackett and have learned and possibly improved his skills shown at his famous EBM book. A must if you want to keep being a good doctor.



3. I know very well this book and I know it is a very usefull tool for practce and teaching Evidence Based Medicine. But I have not received it yet; I'm waiting for it and hope it's coming soon.



4. This is a well written book dedicated to those clinicians planning a clinical trial or to those interested in this topic.
   There is also a section dedicated to diagnostic tests.
   Overall the book is well written, easy to read.
   After reading this book everybody will feel more confident with these topics, that sometimes seem to be so hard to learn.
   In addition, the authors have a very good reputation and exprience in the field of clinical epidemiology.

1 comments about Research Designs (Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences).

1. Many of the "little green books" in the Sage "Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences" series are difficult to understand for the inexperienced researcher. This one is a shining example of concise clarity that other methodology writers should model their work on.

1 comments about Quantitative Methods for Health Research: A Practical Interactive Guide to Epidemiology and Statistics.

1. This is a very clear book integrating very nicely between epidemiology and statistics. I am teaching epidemiology for many years and find this book most helpful to students interested in epidemiological research, as well as in analysis, presentation and interpretetion of epidemiological data . The self-assesment exercises are excellent and seem most useful for students and instructors in introductory courses of epidemiology. I find this book a great companion to epidemiology textbooks, such as Epidemiology/ Leon Gordis or Essential Epidemiology/Webb, Bain and Pirozzo.

2 comments about Statistical Methods for Spatial Data Analysis (Texts in Statistical Science Series).

1. This book was recommended to me by Amazon. It looks very attractive as I would like to learn more about this area.
   
   However, when I clicked on the sample pages online and read the first example, I realized there are typos already. First, the second covariance function should not have a conditional line, it is meant to illustrate the correlation or covariance between two observations in the same experimental unit, unconditionally. Second, I think the second covariance function is missing the tau_i which generates another variance component in the covariance function. This looks disappointing and I will not purchase the book now based on what I read.
   
   Author, any thought?



2. but accessible if you have the appropriate background. A great treatment of the underlying theory, without too much obfuscation. The authors include many interesting examples and make available SAS code on their website.