Essentials of Medical Statistics 2nd Edition (2001) by Betty Kirkwood PDF

Description

Blackwell Publishing is delighted to announce that this book has been Highly Commended in the 2004 BMA Medical Book Competition. Here is the judges’ summary of this book:”This is a technical book on a technical subject but presented in a delightful way. There are many books on statistics for doctors but there are few that are excellent and this is certainly one of them. Statistics is not an easy subject to teach or write about. The authors have succeeded in producing a book that is as good as it can get. For the keen student who does not want a book for mathematicians, this is an excellent first book on medical statistics.”Essential Medical Statistics is a classic amongst medical statisticians. An introductory textbook, it presents statistics with a clarity and logic that demystifies the subject, while providing a comprehensive coverage of advanced as well as basic methods.The second edition of Essential Medical Statistics has been comprehensively revised and updated to include modern statistical methods and modern approaches to statistical analysis, while retaining the approachable and non-mathematical style of the first edition. The book now includes full coverage of the most commonly used regression models, multiple linear regression, logistic regression, Poisson regression and Cox regression, as well as a chapter on general issues in regression modelling. In addition, new chapters introduce more advanced topics such as meta-analysis, likelihood, bootstrapping and robust standard errors, and analysis of clustered data.Aimed at students of medical statistics, medical researchers, public health practitioners and practising clinicians using statistics in their daily work, the book is designed as both a teaching and a reference text. The format of the book is clear with highlighted formulae and worked examples, so that all concepts are presented in a simple, practical and easy-to-understand way. The second edition enhances the emphasis on choice of appropriate methods with new chapters on strategies for analysis and measures of association and impact.Essential Medical Statistics is supported by a web site at www.blackwellpublishing.com/essentialmedstats. This useful online resource provides statistical datasets to download, as well as sample chapters and future updates.

Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I purchased this book to help understand medical statistics as used in medical journal articles and to help understand their use for my own articles. I still intend to use the aid of a trained biostatistician for data evaluation; however, this book has helped me better to understand what all the tests mean. The book is easy to read and each chapter builds logically on the chapter before. I would highly recommend it to physicians who have similar needs. I see the book will be coming out in 2009 under a slightly different title? I guess that is a positive sign of the popularity of this book.

⭐This book is very comprehensible and based on a lot of good examples. It essentially skips over mathematical derivations, which could be seen as a downside, but emphasizes its practical side and the audience – medical researchers (rather than statisticians).As a physician I found it to provide a very helpful overview and confidence that one can at any point go back to it and refresh the knowledge of any specific statistical method when planning your projects or interpreting data.Highly recommended. (I admit though, I have no comparison to other books in the field, this one turned out to be just what I needed).

⭐I needed a comprehensive book on statistics. After borrowing one from a colleague, I decided to buy mine. It arrived a week before the due date, and in glossy, compact binding.

⭐daughter taking class HATES it, no reflection on the book which is probably just fine but doesn’t like the material will probably burn book on Friday as final is Thursday.

⭐It looks just like a new book. I wanted to have this book from long time ago. I’m very pleased to get it.

⭐Easy read book. Great, quick explanation BUT kind of general!

⭐This book is exactly what I needed, and the delivery was prompt.

⭐A very understandable book with an unusual focus on rates.

⭐Very good book for people who are starting biostatistics.

⭐I bought this having studied all the applied statistics modules at the Open University (which I can highly recommend, as it happens) as I wanted a single place that would allow me to revise and reference the main things I had learned across many different courses and books. This was recommended by a university tutor as an answer to exactly that question. It is an *excellent* resource – there is a wealth of information packed in here, in a remarkably clear and concise style and logically organised. The chapters are often pleasingly short, maybe 10 pages or so, which means you can get through a sub-topic in one sitting without feeling drained. This also avoids the issue of picking it up later having forgotten the train of thought.I would not buy this book expecting any mathematical statistics (if this term means nothing to you, then you don’t need to worry about mathematical statistics!). You will not get proofs or derivations. That is not, to my mind, a problem in any way. But if that is what you are after, you might be disappointed.I also wouldn’t buy this book to teach me statistics from scratch, having had no previous exposure to statistics at all. That is because, while it does cover basics starting from e.g. calculating mean averages, and although it is clear, it is very concise and it is not a textbook with questions for you to try and answers for you to check. So long as you have had a basic introduction to statistics you should be fine to learn other new techniques from this book.If you are buying this book because your job/course means you have to do statistics, but you hate it, or find it a frustrating mystery, or get very anxious at the thought of mathematics, I urge you to also check out Derek Rowntree’s ‘Statistics without Tears’. This is a book that focuses on big picture concepts and why we do statistics, so the sea of tests, p-values and degrees of freedom you feel pulling you under soon becomes an ocean of scientific methodology for you to enjoy exploring.

⭐Good but all the information is condensed and is difficult for beginners to grasp especially the advanced topics. Makes a good read once you are aware of all the concepts

⭐Bought this book after a lot of net searching. Good for doctors wanting a clear understanding of medical statistics.

⭐les “stats” ne sont pas toujours facile à comprendre, mais cet aouvrage va directement à l’essentiel et est très complet.A recommander.