A respected introduction to biostatistics, thoroughly updated and revised

The first edition of Biostatistics: A Methodology for the Health Sciences has served professionals and students alike as a leading resource for learning how to apply statistical methods to the biomedical sciences. This substantially revised Second Edition brings the book into the twenty-first century for today's aspiring and practicing medical scientist.

This versatile reference provides a wide-ranging look at basic and advanced biostatistical concepts and methods in a format calibrated to individual interests and levels of proficiency. Written with an eye toward the use of computer applications, the book examines the design of medical studies, descriptive statistics, and introductory ideas of probability theory and statistical inference; explores more advanced statistical methods; and illustrates important current uses of biostatistics.

New to this edition are discussions of

• Longitudinal data analysis
• Randomized clinical trials
• Bayesian statistics
• GEE
• The bootstrap method

Enhanced by a companion Web site providing data sets, selected problems and solutions, and examples from such current topics as HIV/AIDS, this is a thoroughly current, comprehensive introduction to the field.

Praise for the First Edition:

"For a beginner [this book] is a treasure trove; for an experienced person it can provide new ideas on how better to pursue the subject of applied statistics."
--Journal of Quality Technology

Sensibly organized for quick reference, Statistical Rules of Thumb, Second Edition compiles simple rules that are widely applicable, robust, and elegant, and each captures key statistical concepts. This unique guide to the use of statistics for designing, conducting, and analyzing research studies illustrates real-world statistical applications through examples from fields such as public health and environmental studies. Along with an insightful discussion of the reasoning behind every technique, this easy-to-use handbook also conveys the various possibilities statisticians must think of when designing and conducting a study or analyzing its data.

Each chapter presents clearly defined rules related to inference, covariation, experimental design, consultation, and data representation, and each rule is organized and discussed under five succinct headings: introduction; statement and illustration of the rule; the derivation of the rule; a concluding discussion; and exploration of the concept's extensions. The author also introduces new rules of thumb for topics such as sample size for ratio analysis, absolute and relative risk, ANCOVA cautions, and dichotomization of continuous variables. Additional features of the Second Edition include:

Additional rules on Bayesian topics

New chapters on observational studies and Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)

Additional emphasis on variation and causation

Updated material with new references, examples, andsources

A related Web site provides a rich learning environment and contains additional rules, presentations by the author, and a message board where readers can share their own strategies and discoveries. Statistical Rules of Thumb, Second Edition is an ideal supplementary book for courses in experimental design and survey research methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as an indispensable reference for statisticians, researchers, consultants, and scientists who would like to develop an understanding of the statistical foundations of their research efforts.

GERALD van BELLE, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington. He is the author or coauthor of more than 130 journal articles and several books, including Biostatistics: A Methodology for the Health Sciences, also published by Wiley. A recipient of the 2003 Wiley Author of the Year Award (Mathematics and Statistics Section), Dr. van Belle is a Fellow of both the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

An accessible and practical approach to the design and analysis of experiments in the health sciences Design and Analysis of Experiments in the Health Sciences provides a balanced presentation of design and analysis issues relating to data in the health sciences and emphasizes new research areas, the crucial topic of clinical trials, and state-of-the- art applications. Advancing the idea that design drives analysis and analysis reveals the design, the book clearly explains how to apply design and analysis principles in animal, human, and laboratory experiments while illustrating topics with applications and examples from randomized clinical trials and the modern topic of microarrays. The authors outline the following five types of designs that form the basis of most experimental structures: " Completely randomized designs " Randomized block designs " Factorial designs " Multilevel experiments " Repeated measures designs A related website features a wealth of data sets that are used throughout the book, allowing readers to work hands-on with the material. In addition, an extensive bibliography outlines additional resources for further study of the presented topics. Requiring only a basic background in statistics, Design and Analysis of Experiments in the Health Sciences is an excellent book for introductory courses on experimental design and analysis at the graduate level. The book also serves as a valuable resource for researchers in medicine, dentistry, nursing, epidemiology, statistical genetics, and public health.