7010A Quantitative Skills for the Biomedical Researcher I

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Topics covered will include introduction to probability, discrete and continuous probability models, sampling distributions, the central limit theorem, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. While computing is not one of the main learning outcomes, the students will be briefly introduced to the statistical programming language R.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

This 3-week course aims to acquaint students with the fundamental concepts of biostatistics, applications of basic methods, and their interpretation.

PREREQUISITES:

All students are expected to have basic computer skills and college mathematics. Although not required, we highly recommend those without R experience to attend Beginning R workshop (2 sessions, each 1.5 hours) the week before QSBR 1.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Statistical Software: The core learning outcomes of this course are conceptual and not learning the software: you will use the statistical software R, but you are not going to need the software for the exam.

Recommended Textbooks: Lecture notes will be posted. These books are not necessary for the course, but they may be helpful resources for your research.

• Marcello Pagano and Kimberlee Gauvreau, Principles of Biostatistics (2nd Edition) ISBN-13: 978-0534229023, ISBN-10: 0534229026.
• Bernard Rosner, Fundamentals of Biostatistics (8th Edition) ISBN-13: 978-1305268920; ISBN-10: 130526892X

SUITABLE FOR 1ST YEAR STUDENTS:

Not recommended; permission from course leader required if seeking to take this course in the first year.

STUDENT ASSESSMENTS:

Course grade will be based on homework (20%), a midterm exam (30%), and the final exam (50%).

CREDIT HOURS: 1.0