Biostatistics By Blueman

Introduction 

You may be familiar with probability and statistics through radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. For example, you may have read statements like the following found in newspapers.

Nearly one in seven U.S. families are struggling with bills from medical expenses even though they have health insurance. (Source: Psychology Today.)

Eating 10 grams of fiber a day reduces the risk of heart attack by 14%. (Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, Reader’s Digest.)

Thirty minutes of exercise two or three times each week can raise HDLs by 10% to 15%. (Source: Prevention.)

In 2008, the average credit card debt for college students was $3173. (Source: Newser.com.)

About 15% of men in the United States are left-handed and 9% of women are left[1]handed. (Source: Scripps Survey Research Center.)

The median age of people who watch the Tonight Show with Jay Leno is 48.1. (Source: Nielsen Media Research.)

Statistics is used in almost all fields of human endeavor. In sports, for example, a statistician may keep records of the number of yards a running back gains during a football game, or the number of hits a baseball player gets in a season. In other areas, such as public health, an administrator might be concerned with the number of residents who contract a new strain of flu virus during a certain year. In education, a researcher might want to know if new methods of teaching are better than old ones. These are only a few examples of how statistics can be used in various occupations.

Furthermore, statistics is used to analyze the results of surveys and as a tool in scientific research to make decisions based on controlled experiments. Other uses of statistics include operations research, quality control, estimation, and prediction.