REVIEW OF STATISTICAL

METHODS
HE MISIRI
COMMUNITY HEALTH
DEPARTMENT

 Describe how you will conduct

descriptive statistical analysis in your
study
Describe how you will conduct
hypothesis testing in your study (when
applicable)
Describe the statistical tests you will
use to analyse data from your
proposed study

Random Error
Research is usually conducted on
samples.
It is expensive, time-consuming and
logistically difficult to conduct a census.
Sample estimates will always be
unexact because of sampling error also
known as random variation.
The smaller the sample the greater the
variation.

Types of Data
Categorical data-from categorical
variables like eye colour,sex, marital
status, level of education etc
A categorical variable has categories. Eg
Sex is categorised as Male or Female.
Continuous variables assume any value
on the real line.
Continuous data is from continuous
variables

Scales of measurement
Nominal: Sex
Ordinal: Severity of pain
Interval/Ratio: Weight, Speed

Describing data
Data can be described by using:
Charts
Tables
Numerical summary values
Shapes of distributions

1. Charts-Histogram

Pie Chart

2. Tables-Frequency
distribution
Age group

Number of patients

< 30

30

31-40

102

41-50

162

51-60

96

61-70

22

71-80

Total

416

Percentage distribution
Satisfaction with
nursing care

No of patients

Percentage

Very satisfied

121

25.5

Satisfied

161

33.9

Neutral

90

18.9

Dissatisfied

51

10.7

Very dissatisfied

52

10.9

Table
Sex

Mean Age(SD)

Males

20.3(1.2)

Females

18.2(1.6)

All

19.3(1.8)

Table from Misiri et

al(2012b)

HIV Rates-Misiri et al(2012a)

4. Shapes of distributions:
Symmetry and kurtosis
The degree of peakedness(Chris
Caple,1991) is called kurtosis
Positively skewed
Negatively skewed

Positively skewed

Symmetric

Kurtosis

Variation in sample data

Numerical summaries
For categorical data one uses
numbers/frequencies ,percentages or
proportions, rates to describe data.
For continuous data one uses
measures of central tendency and
variation

3. Numerical valuesSummary statistics

Examples of summary statistics are:
A. Measures of central tendency:
Mean,Median,Mode
B. Measures of variation:Variance,standard
deviation,range,interquartile range
C. Other statistics: Proportion, Percentiles,
etc

Examples-categorical data
In a class of 200 students, 51 are males
and 149 are females.-Numbers.
25.5% of patients were very satisfied
with nursing care
The prevalence of Chlamydia in young
women in England in 1996 was 3.1%.
The incidence rate of cancer is 90
cases per 100,000 person years of time

Moe examples:et al(2012b)

Ze & Misiri(2009)

Descriptive statisticsCategorical data

Proportions
Percentages
Each proportion should have a CI
Better summarized in a percentage
distribution or frequency distribution

Appropriate average to use

Use the mean and standard deviation
for symmetric data.
Use the median and range or
quartiles for skewed data.

Misiri et al(2012c)

Standard deviation
SD=sqrt(44.8/4) =3.3
This is the average variation in the
data.
That means the difference between
individual data points and the sample
mean is on average 3.3.

A normal distribution is a distribution that is symmetric and

looks similar to a bell in shape. If distribution of the data in
a population follows a normal distribution (the measure of
spread around the mean) then:
The range covered by 1 SD below and 1 above the mean
includes 68% of the distribution.
The range covered by 2 SDs below and 2 above the mean
includes 95% of the distribution.
The range covered by 3 SDs below and 3 above the mean
includes 99.7% of the distribution.
The standard deviation is not used for the scatter around
the median. The measure for the scatter around the median
is the INTER-QUARTILE RANGE. There are three quartiles:
at 25%, 50% and 75%. They divide the data into four
quarters in a similar way to the median (the 50%-ile)
dividing it into two halves. The inter-quartile range is the
range of values between the 25%-ile and the 75%-ile.
These values are used in producing a box (and whisker)plot.

Bell-shaped distribution

 The standard deviation is not used

for the scatter around the median.
The measure for the scatter around
the median is the INTER-QUARTILE
RANGE.

 There are three quartiles: at 25%,

50% and 75%. They divide the data
into four quarters in a similar way to
the median (the 50%-ile) dividing it
into two halves. The inter-quartile
range is the range of values between
the 25%-ile and the 75%-ile. These
values are used in producing a box
(and whisker)-plot.

Example:Plasma glucose

4.67
4.97
5.11
5.17
5.33
6.22
6.50
7.00

Hypothesis Testing

Null
Alternative
Type I Error
Type II Error
Level of significance

Example
Null hypothesis: mothers attending
ANC at clinic A are as likely to be
attended by a skilled birth attendant
as mothers attending ANC at clinic B
Alternative hypothesis: mothers
attending ANC at clinic A are either
more likely or less likely to be
attended by a skilled birth attendant
as mothers attending ANC at clinic B.

Paired samples t-test

See example

Independent sample t-test

See example

 P-value is the probability that the statistic

is as observed from your sample or even
more extreme.
Example:
If Ho: Mean Difference=0
Ha: Mean Difference >0
The test statistic is Z
Given that the level of significance is 5%:

 We will reject Ho if p-value < 5%

This is so because this implies that
our findings are less likely to have
happened by chance.
We will accept Ho if the p-value > 5%
This is so because this implies that
our findings are more likely to
happen as stated in the Ho.

WARNING!
Do not abuse p-values
P-values should always be
accompanied by confidence
intervals.
Confidence intervals give the
magnitude of the effect as well as
the precision of estimation.

Example:Zverev &
Misiri(2009)
One-way analysis of variance
revealed a significant effect of shift
phase on total sleep duration (F =
36.8, d.f. = 8, P < 0.000).
Ho:The mean total sleep duration of
the three shift phases are equal.
Ha:The mean total sleep duration for
the three shift phases are different.

Summary of methods