MODULE 1 : INTRODUCTION TO BIOSTATISTICS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY

OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the basic concepts and terminology of biostatistics and epidemiology.
2. Differentiate descriptive statistics from inferential statistics and their application in research.

SUBJECT MATTER DISCUSSION

I. LESSON INPUTS
Statistics
A very broad subject, with applications in a vast number of different fields. Generally, it is
the methodology for collecting, analyzing, interpreting and drawing conclusions from information.
Statistics is a field of study concerned with:
(1) the collection, organization, summarization, and analysis of data; and
(2) the drawing of inferences about a body of data when only a part of the data is observed.
Statistics consists of a body of methods for collecting and analyzing data (Agresti & Finlay,
1997). Statistics is much more than just the tabulation of numbers and the graphical presentation
of these tabulated numbers. Statistical methods can be used to find answers to the questions like:
• What kind and how much data need to be collected?
• How should we organize and summarize the data?
• How can we analyze the data and draw conclusions from it?
• How can we assess the strength of the conclusions and evaluate their uncertainty?
Statistician
A person who engages in one or more of the following tasks:
• the clerical activities of tabulating, summarizing, and displaying statistical data.
• analyzing data by using statistical methods, usually for the purposes of decision making.
• advancing the science of statistics by developing new and better analysis methods.
Statistics in Practice
Statistics can be applied in a vast number of fields. Statistical tools, concepts and methods
have affected all disciplines biology, physics, engineering, economics, sociology, psychology,
business, and others. Consider the following problems:
• agricultural problem: Is new grain seed or fertilizer more productive?
• medical problem: What is the right amount of dosage of drug to treatment?
• political science: How accurate are the opinion polls?
• economics: What will be the unemployment rate next year?
• technical problem: How to improve quality of product?
What problem/s in the field of medical technology can be applied with statistics?
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Biostatistics
When the data analyzed are derived from the biological sciences and medicine, the term
used is biostatistics to distinguish this particular application of statistical tools and concepts.
Generally, it is the branch of statistics that deals with data relating to living organisms.
Using the tools of statistics, biostatisticians help answer pressing research questions in
medicine, biology, epidemiology and public health, such as whether a new drug works, what
causes cancer and other diseases, and how long a person with a certain illness is likely to survive.

Epidemiology
It is the branch of medical science that investigates all the factors that determine the
presence or absence of diseases and disorders. It deals with the incidence, distribution, and
possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health. Epidemiological research helps
us to understand how many people have a disease or disorder, if those numbers are changing,
and how the disorder affects our society and our economy.
Key terms to know in this field are:
Disease. A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that has
a known cause and a distinctive group of symptoms, signs, or anatomical changes.
Incidence. The number of new cases of a disease or disorder in a population over a period of
time.
Prevalence. The number of existing cases of a disease in a population at a given time.
Cost of illness. Many reports use expenditures on medical care (i.e., actual money spent) as the
cost of illness. Ideally, the cost of illness would also take into account factors that are more difficult
to measure, such as work-related costs, educational costs, the cost of support services required
by the medical condition, and the amount individuals would pay to avoid health risks
(Environmental Protection Agency’s Cost of Illness Handbook).
Burden of disease. The total significance of disease for society, beyond the immediate cost of
treatment. It is measured in years of life lost to ill health, or the difference between total life
expectancy and disability-adjusted life expectancy (World Health Organization).
DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year). A summary measure of the health of a population. One
DALY represents one lost year of healthy life and is used to estimate the gap between the current
health of a population and an ideal situation in which everyone in that population would live into
old age in full health (World Health Organization).

Types of Statistics
Statistics provides methods for:
• Design: Planning and carrying out research studies.
• Description: Summarizing and exploring data.
• Inference: Making predictions and generalizing about phenomena represented by the data.
To summarize, statistics can be classified as Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics.

Descriptive Statistics
The concept of this type is directed to organizing and summarizing data. Descriptive
statistics consist of methods for organizing and summarizing information (Weiss, 1999). It
includes the construction of graphs, charts, and tables, and the calculation of various descriptive
measures such as averages, measures of variation, and percentiles.

Inferential Statistics
The concept of inferential statistics focuses on how to reach decisions about a large body
of data by examining only a small part of it. Inferential statistics consist of methods for drawing
and measuring the reliability of conclusions about population based on information obtained from
a sample of the population (Weiss, 1999). It includes methods like point estimation, interval
estimation and hypothesis testing which are all based on probability theory

Application of Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

You want to know the stress level of medical technologist with variables on their
demographic profile like age and sex. With this, we can derive a hypothesis “If there is a significant
difference in the stress level of medical technologist when group according to their sex and age.”
The measures of percentage and frequency of male and female, and the age group they
belong, as well as the mean of their stress level is an example of descriptive statistics.
However, inferential statistics is used to verify if the hypothesis will be accepted or rejected
by using statistical tools such as t-test, one-way anova and etc.
 MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO BIOSTATISTICS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
Name: Course:

General Instruction: These modular activities are additional assessment tasks

corresponding the lessons covered in this term. Detach these worksheets and submit the
accomplished outputs next meeting.

WORKSHEET 1: ACADEMIC TASKS/ DRILLS

1. What is the importance of studying statistics? Give a scenario of its application in your field of
study or daily living.
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WORKSHEET 2: APPLICATION

1. Provide a sample research problem and identify the descriptive and inferential statistics that
can be applied.

Research Problem: ____________________________________________________________

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Descriptive Statistics: __________________________________________________________

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Inferential Statistics: ___________________________________________________________

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 MODULE 2 : VARIABLES AND ORGANIZATION OF DATA

OBJECTIVES
1. Demonstrate understanding about variables and data in research, as well as their various
types.
2. Identify the sources where to obtain data.

SUBJECT MATTER DISCUSSION

I. LESSON INPUTS

Variables
Any characteristic that varies from one individual member of the population to another.
Examples of variables for humans are height, weight, number of siblings, sex, marital status, and
eye color.
The first three of these variables yield numerical information or measurements and are
examples of quantitative (or numerical) variables.
The last three yield non-numerical information or measurements and are examples of
qualitative (or categorical) variables.
Quantitative variables can be classified as either discrete or continuous.
Discreet Variables is a countable number of distinct possible values. A variable is
discrete if it can assume only finite numbers of values or as many values as there are integers.
Typically, it is a variable whose possible values are of the ordinary counting numbers like 0, 1, 2,
3.
Examples of this variables is the number of daily admissions to a general hospital is a
discrete random variable since the number of admissions each day must be represented by a
whole number.
Continuous variable does not possess the gaps or interruptions characteristics. It can
assume any value within a specified relevant interval of values assumed by the variable.
Examples of this variable include the various measurements that can be made on
individuals such as height. No matter how close together the observed heights of two people, for
example, we can, theoretically, find another person whose height falls somewhere in between.

Cite other examples of quantitative and qualitative variables. Identify and label your quantitative
variables as discrete or continuous.
Quantitative Variables Qualitative Variables

Another type of variables are the independent and dependent variables that is based on
cause-and-effect relationship.

Independent Variables
It is the variable manipulated or vary in a study to explore its effects. It is called
independent because it is not influenced by any other variables in the study. Independent
variables can be classified as experimental independent variable or subject variable.
Experimental independent variables can be directly manipulated by researchers,
commonly applied in experimental research. For example, a research study on the impact of new
medication on the blood glucose of the patient with diabetes. The experimental independent
variable is the new medication that can be varied in doses between groups.
Subject variables, on the other hand, are characteristics that vary across participants and
cannot be manipulated by researchers. For example, the gender, income, education and other
demographic profiles.
Dependent Variables
It is the variable that changes as result of the manipulation. It is the outcome measured
and depends on the independent variable. Based on the sample research study mentioned above
on the impact of new medication on the blood glucose of the patient with diabetes, the dependent
variable is the blood glucose level of the patient resulting from the varied doses of new medication.

Cite other examples of independent and dependent variables. Identify and label your independent
variables as experimental or subject.

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Data
Statistics is concerned with using sample data to answer a problem. The raw material of
statistics is data. Observing the values of the variables yield data. Each individual piece of data
is called an observation. The collection of all observations for particular variables is called data
set or data matrix. Data set are the values of variables recorded for a set of sampling units.
The two kinds of data that we use in statistics are numbers that result from the taking of a
measurement (for example nurse weighs a patient at 150lbs), and those that result from the
process of counting (for instance hospital administrator counts the number of patients discharged
from the hospital on a given day).

Source of Data
Data are usually available from one or more of the following sources:
Internal sources. These are routinely kept records from of day-to-day transactions of
activities. Hospital medical records, for example, contain immense amounts of information on
patients.
External sources. The data needed to answer a question may already exist in the form
of published reports, commercially available data banks, or the research literature. External data
may be of two types, the primary data and secondary data.
Primary data are obtained from the organization which originally collected them. An
example is the population data of government healthcare workers collected by and available in
the Department of Health
Secondary data come from a source other than the one which originally collected them.
Ordinarily, if external data must be used, it is recommended that primary data be sought
out since it will not have undergone any "refining" by the secondary source.

Cite one research problem that can be answered by data from internal source:
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Cite one research problem that can be answered by data from external source:
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Obtaining Data
Data from internal and external sources are collected by surveys or experiment
Survey is a process of collecting data from existing population units, with no particular
control over factors that may affect the population characteristics of interest in the study. For
instance, the clinic wishes to obtain information regarding the lifestyle of patients. A survey maybe
conducted among patients to obtain this information.
Experiments is a process of collecting data about population characteristics when control
is exercised over some or all factors that may affect the characteristics of interest in the study.
For example, a laboratory assistant wants to know which among elements can catalyze the
reaction faster, he might conduct an experiment.
Interview is another method of eliciting information from individuals which can be
conducted personally, through telephone or mail.
Both surveys and experiments are used in a quantitative type of research, while interview
may use in qualitative type of research.
 MODULE 2: VARIABLES AND ORGANIZATION OF DATA
Name: Course:

General Instruction: These modular activities are additional assessment tasks

corresponding the lessons covered in this term. Detach these worksheets and submit the
accomplished outputs next meeting.

WORKSHEET 1: ACADEMIC TASKS/ DRILLS AND APPLICATION

1. Choose a research problem. Conduct and document an interview with at least one of
your research participants.

2. Identify the data you gathered as qualitative or quantitative, discrete or continuous,

dependent or independent, experimental or subject

Data Qualitative Quantitative Dependent Independent

Example: dose of antibiotic / (continuous) /(experimental)

WO
 MODULE 3 : THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the processes involved in the scientific method and the design of experiments.
2. Appreciate the importance of properly designed and constructed questionnaire in research
survey.

SUBJECT MATTER DISCUSSION

I. LESSON INPUTS

Scientific method is a process by which scientific information is collected, analyzed, and

reported in order to produce unbiased and replicable results in an effort to provide an accurate
representation of observable phenomena.
It is recognized universally as the only acceptable way to produce new scientific understanding
of the world around us. It is based on an empirical approach, in that decisions and outcomes are
based on data.

Sample Application
1. What is the level of antibacterial activity of
the newly discovered drug in different
dosing? The null hypothesis derived is
focused on the significant difference in the
antibacterial activity of the newly discovered
drug in different amount dosing.
2. Inoculated bacteria in a petri dish under
experimental group (tested with the new
drug in different amount or dosing) and
control group without drug.
3. Determine the antibacterial activity by
measuring the diameter of zone of inhibition
in the petri dish.
4. Tabulate the mean of antibacterial activity
based on the diameter of zone of inhibition in
the petri dish.
5. Statistical tool such as One-way Anova
maybe used to test the hypothesis assessing
the significant difference in the antibacterial
activity of the newly discovered drug in
different amount dosing.

A research generally starts with a problem, followed by the hypothesis formulated by the
researcher with some specific restatements and clarifications of the research problem.
Hypothesis is an approximate explanation relating to the set of facts that can be tested
by further investigations. It should be expressed as a relationship between the independent and
dependent variables of the study.
There are basically two types, the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis. The null and
alternative hypotheses offer competing answers to your research question. When the research
question asks “Does the independent variable affect the dependent variable?”:
⚫ The null hypothesis (H0) answers “No, there’s no effect in the population.”
Example: There is no significant difference in the antibacterial activity of the newly discovered
drug in different amount dosing.
⚫ The alternative hypothesis (Ha) answers “Yes, there is an effect in the population.”
Example: There is significant difference in the antibacterial activity of the newly discovered drug
in different amount dosing.
Design of Experiment
Experiments are used to study causal relationships. One or more independent variables
are manipulated and measure their effect on one or more dependent variables.
The experimental design means creating a set of procedures to systematically test a
hypothesis. It is one which study subjects that are randomly assigned to an experimental group
(or treatment group) and a control group that is not directly exposed to a treatment. Research
experiments should be designed properly to ensure valid results with precision and accuracy.
Accuracy refers to the correctness of a measurement. Precision, on the other hand, refers to the
consistency of a measurement.

There are five key steps in designing an experiment:

1. Consider your variables and how they are related
2. Write a specific, testable hypothesis
3. Design experimental treatments to manipulate your independent variable
4. Assign subjects to groups, either between-subjects or within-subjects
5. Plan how you will measure your dependent variable

Constructing Questionnaires
Questionnaires is one of the tools used in survey and interviews. It can be a self-made
instrument or adopted from previous research or other related literature. There are basic steps in
constructing a questionnaire:
• Designing the instrument – close-ended questions (dichotomous, multiple choice) and
open-ended questions (free answer) may be included. The multiple-choice question gives
the respondent a greater range of responses to choose from, but it may also request a
more qualified response.
Did you take your antibiotics? YES( ) NO( )
How often do you drink alcohol? ALWAYS( ) OFTEN( ) SELDOM( ) NEVER( )
Why did you take medical technology? _________________________________

• Reliability and Validity Testing – these are required for self-made questionnaires. The
questionnaire is pre-tested to a small number of respondents to determine the reliability.
Some of the common statistical tool used in determining the reliability of the questionnaire
is cronbach alpha. During the validity testing, the questionnaire is subject to critique by
research experts using a scale.

• Revision and editing – the completed questionnaires must be carefully checked and edited
for errors.
 MODULE 3: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Name: Course:

General Instruction: These modular activities are additional assessment tasks

corresponding the lessons covered in this term. Detach these worksheets and submit the
accomplished outputs next meeting.

WORKSHEET 1: ACADEMIC TASKS/ DRILLS

1. Formulate a scientific experimental research by completing the table below.

a.Research Problem

b.Null Hypothesis

c.What is your
sample/population?

d.How will you collect

the data?

e.What statistical data

analysis will you use?
Identify as descriptive
and inferential
statistics.

WORKSHEET 2: APPLICATION

1. Construct a self-made questionnaire composing the three kinds of questions for a certain
research problem assigned to you. Conduct it to 15 participants and test for the reliability using
Cronbach alpha. Present your output in the class.