Biostatistics

CHAPTER 1
NATURE OF STATISTICS
The development of statistics can be traced back to the conduct of
censuses in biblical times and the activities of government statistical
offices.
Rulers of ancient Babylonia, Egypt and Rome and most civilised
countries from earliest times gathered detailed information on
populations and resources:
(1) to levy taxes to maintain the state and the court;
(2) to ascertain, for military and fiscal reasons, manpower and
material strength of the nation.
1.1 Definition of Statistics

Statistics is the science that studies methods and procedures for collecting, organizing,
presenting, analyzing, interpreting and disseminating numerical data for useful
purposes.

1.2 Branches of Statistics

Statistics, as a subject, breaks naturally into two reasonably distinct
branches: Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics.
i. Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics is concerned with the description,
presentation and summarization of a set of data in order to
properly describe the various features of that set of data.
Descriptive statistics can be used:

(a) to describe one or more characteristics of a group;

(b) to make comparisons.

ii. Inferential Statistics
Inferential statistics is concerned with drawing conclusions
regarding all information of interest on the basis of a small part
of that information. Inferential Statistics attempts:
(a) to draw precise general conclusions from available data;
(b) to help us decide how the data can be obtained most
efficiently and economically.
 Why Study Statistics?
Am sure you are reading biostatistics course because it is a requirement of
the programmes of study. However, there are more important reasons why
you should study statistics.
• First, as a health professional, you daily depend on data and numerical
reasoning. Statistics provides the reasoning and the methods for
producing and understanding data.
• Second, the tools of statistics are in fact essential to the Ministry of
Health in areas such as planning, forecasting, and quality control.
For instance statistics is used:
(a) to analyse the result of drug rehabilitation programmes;
(i) to test the effectiveness of a new drug;
(ii) to analyse health service utilisation;
(iii) to predict the bed occupancy rate in a hospital.
• Third, the study of statistics can help you to become more critical in your
analysis of information so that you are not misled to accept deceptive
claims. It will help you evaluate numerical facts, when to believe them
and when to reject them. These are among other reasons.
 Try
• What do you understand by the word “statistics”? Explain how the
field of statistics influences you in your life routine.
• Explain what is meant by descriptive statistics. Give two examples.
What is the primary purpose of descriptive statistics?
• Explain what is meant by inferential statistics. Give two examples.
What is the primary purpose of inferential statistics?
Classify the following statements into descriptive or inferential
statistics:
• The average age of patients on admission at Dunkwa Government
Hospital.
• Five percent of the elderly persons in a certain village are diabetic.
• The student population of Obaaku’s Nursing College in Kumasi is
projected to be 500 in the next three years.
STATISTICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS
POPULATION: A population is the complete set of entities being investigated.
Example: Population includes:
(I) All the people living in Ghana in 2010;
(II) All midwifery students in Ghana;
(II) All the hospitals in the Central Region of Ghana at any point in time etc

ELEMENTARY UNIT: Each individual item in a population is called an elementary unit or

an element of the corresponding population
In Example,
the elementary units are persons, hospitals, health workers, students and tables,
respectively.

POPULATION SIZE: The number of elements in a population is the population size. The
population size is usually denoted by N. Example:
Suppose the student population of GCUC Nursing College in 2012/2013 academic year
was 1000, then we write N= 1,000.
SAMPLE: A sample is a part of the population under study.
Example, if we decided to select a few students in Okomfo Anokye Nursing
College for a study, then the students who would fall in that group constitute
a sample.

SAMPLE SIZE: A sample size is the number of elements in a sample.

The sample size is usually denoted by n.
Example; we stated that N= 1000. Suppose that we selected 400 students (a
sample) for a research, then n= 400

STATISTICAL INFERENCE: Statistical inference is the process of making

statements about a population on the basis of a sample drawn from that
population.
PARAMETER: A parameter is a single value obtained to describe, in a
summary fashion, the pertinent characteristics of a population.
Example; The minimum value, the maximum value, the range, the total
value, the proportion, the mean and the variance obtained from the
values of a population are parameters.

STATISTIC: A statistic is a single value obtained to describe, in a summary

fashion, the pertinent characteristics about a sample.
A statistic estimates a parameter. Therefore, a synonym of a statistic is an
estimate.
VARIABLE: A variable is a phenomenon or characteristic whose observations
differ from response to response.
Variables include the following:
• The number of deaths at Bofa Government hospital on each day in June.
• The opinion of nursing students on abortion.

QUANTITATIVE VARIABLE: A quantitative variable is one whose observations

vary in magnitude from response to response. Quantitative variables are,
therefore, numerical in nature. The values that they can assume convey such
concepts as quantity, amount, magnitude, or numbers.
QUANTITATIVE DATA: Quantitative data are those data which assume
numerical values that possess an inherent order. Quantitative data are
always numeric and are usually generated from quantitative variables. They
indicate how much (measurement) or how many (counting).
QUALITATIVE VARIABLE: A qualitative variable is one whose observations
vary in kind but not in degree. Examples of qualitative variables include sex,
religious affiliation, marital status, colour, place of residence, political party
affiliation, contraceptive usage by students, awareness of causes of typhoid
fever, knowledge in statistics.
QUALITATIVE DATA: Qualitative data are those whose values fall into one or
another of a set of mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive classes.
Qualitative data are labels or names used to identify an attribute of each
element. Qualitative data are also called categorical data.
DISCRETE VARIABLE: A discrete variable is a quantitative variable that
can assume only a countable number of values.
A discrete variable includes the following; Number of second year students
at the Goaso Midwifery College in 2013.
CONTINUOUS VARIABLE: A continuous variable is a quantitative variable that
can assume any values within a specified interval of values assumed by the
variable. A continuous variable includes the following; The weight of newly
born babies., the time required for a medical officer to perform a surgery, the
temperature of sick children etc.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE: A dependent variable is the effect or response
resulting from a certain combination of factors under specified conditions.
The dependent variable is the primary variable of interest in a study. It is
usually represented by y.
 Data/Variable

Quantitative Qualitative

DISCRETE
CONTINUOUS
VARIABLE
VARIABLE
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: An independent variable is a variable that is
considered to be influencing the behavior of the dependent variable. The
independent variable is usually represented by X.
REPRESENTATION DATA

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