Newcastle University

Aims

This is an on-line course which introduces the statistical packages of MINITAB and SPSS to help students performing clinical research develop an understanding of elementary statistical methods such as estimation and hypothesis testing. It is designed to inculcate a somewhat deeper understanding than usual introductory courses in statistics and so is appropriate for a Masters (FHEQ level 7) course. The module aims to:

1. Inform students about some of the statistical techniques used in collecting data in clinical research.
2. Develop a critical understanding of the statistical methods in analyzing data.
3. Inform students about the statistical packages available for analyzing data.

Outline Of Syllabus

The syllabus comprises the following elements:

• An overview of statistical packages particularly SPSS and Minitab
• Statistics - an overview
• Descriptive statistics
• Inferential statistics
• Population and parameters
• Normal distributions
• Samples, estimation and standard errors
• Confidence intervals
• The idea of a hypothesis test
• Tests to compare two groups I: the t-test
• Tests to compare two groups II: binary data
• Principle of sample size calculations
• Survival analysis

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The design of the on-line material will not only focus on a range of inferential and descriptive statistics, but will also enhance the student's practical ability to apply statistical rigour to clinical research.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The critique is designed to assess how well candidates understand statistical principles as applied to published work and help them develop skills for research and for Masters students to prepare for the dissertation component of the course (later). The MCQ is designed to test the students understanding and knowledge of statistics and the software as taught in the module.