Biostatistics:
Biostatistics (or biometry) is the application of statistics to a wide range of topics in biology. The science of biostatistics encompasses the design of biological experiments, especially in medicine, pharmacy, agriculture and fishery; the collection, summarization, and analysis of data from those experiments; and the interpretation of, and inference from, the results. A major branch of this is medical biostatistics,which is exclusively concerned with medicine and health.
"It deals with statistical methods or techniques to collect, analyze & present numerical data related to life"
Stages of Research:
1. Planning ( Setting an aim)
2. Designing
3. Execution (Practical performance of design) :Take data on intervals.....per day or weekly
4. Analysis (apply biostatistic formulas)
5. Presentation (Type of graph application to data)
6. Publications (Through newspaper, impact journals etc )
Statistics:
Statistics is the study of data.
It includes :
1. Descriptive statistics
2. Inferential statistics
Descriptive statistics:
The study of methods and tools for collecting data, and mathematical models to describe and interpret data/
It involves tabulation of data, calculation of measures of centre tendency & calculation of measures' dispersion [less or greater than mean value]
e.g height ( if we take average height 5.3 of a class it doesn't mean that everyone in class have height 5.3 but more or less than it)
Inferential statistics:
The systems and techniques for making probability-based decisions and accurate predictions.
It deals with techniques which are used to prove certain hypothesis. It includes multiple tests.
e.g Biochemical tests are different for each protein, lipid, cholesterol , sugar to check their level in blood.
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DATA
Data:Data is a set of observations.
Types of data:
On the basis of expression:
1. Categorical data
2. Numerical data
Categorical data:
e.g eye colour (it may be of many categories like black, blue, grey,brown, green)
It is further classified into :
1. Binomial category : present/ absent
2. Multinomial category : e.g hair colour
Numerical data:
It has some numerical value e.g height, age etc
it is further classified into :
1. Discrete data : consist of a whole number
2. Continuous data : expressed in fractions
Types of data:
On the basis of source:
1. Primary data
2. Secondary data
Primary data:
Primary data means original data that has been collected specially for the purpose in mind. It means someone collected the data from the original source first hand. Data collected this way is called primary data.Researcher is involved by himself in collection, generation or recording data.
Research where one gathers this kind of data is referred to as field research.
For example: your own questionnaire.
Secondary data:
Data collected by asking other people ,not gathered by researcher itself
Research where one gathers this kind of data is referred to as desk research.
For example: data from a book.
