CUMMING SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
GRADUATE COURSE OUTLINE
MDCH 610
Biostatistics I: Essentials of Biostatistics
Fall 2014
Course Coordinator/
Instructor
Dr. Tyler Williamson
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences
TRW Building 3rd Floor, Office 3D15
Phone: 403-210-6033
Email: tyler.williamson@ucalgary.ca
Office hours: By appointment
Teaching Assistants
Jessalyn Holodinsky
Ellen Kuenzig
Course Dates
September 9 – December 4, 2013
Lectures
Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.
Room: Health Sciences Centre 1405A
Tutorials
Tuesdays 2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
Rooms: Various
Labs
Thursdays 2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
Rooms: Various
Email: jkholodi@ucalgary.ca
Email: mekeunzi@ucalgary.ca
Course Description
This course introduces the foundational and fundamental concepts of biostatistics: summarizing
data and statistical inference. Topics include the graphical presentation of data, hypothesis
testing, p-values, confidence intervals, the comparisons of means and proportions, sample size
estimation and power calculation as well as brief introduction to the topics of linear regression,
the analysis of variance, and the analysis of time-to-event data. Examples are given using
STATA statistical software and students will be taught how to interpret output from STATA but
prior knowledge of STATA is not a prerequisite.
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Prerequisite:
While there are no formal prerequisites for this course it is assumed that students have a strong
foundation of mathematics. For example, students should feel comfortable solving inequalities,
solve on-variable linear equations, applying the rules for powers, exponents, and logarithms,
and applying the order of operations. A review is recommended for any uncertain about their
mastery of these topics.
Course Admission:
Students and residents of the Department of Community Health Sciences are admitted to this
course. No other students are admitted except by special arrangement and the approval of the
instructor.
Resources NOTE THAT THERE IS NO REQUIRED TEXT FOR THE COURSE
The following textbooks are optional references for those wishing to have a reference text. All
evaluation, assignments and examples will be given in the notes. Those not wishing to
purchase a textbook will have no disadvantage.
Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (8th Edition), Moore, McCabe & Craig ISBN
1464158933
Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials” (4th Edition), Norman & Streiner (2014) ISBN
1607951789
Computing Resources
Illustrations in the course will be given using the STATA Statistical Software: Version 13. This
software is available in the DCHS computer lab [TRW 3D44A] and in the Health Sciences
Library Information Commons [HS 1460A]. Students may wish to consider purchasing this
software. Purchase is through the UofC Grad Plan. Contact Stata directly:
http://www.stata.com/order/new/edu/gradplans/campus-gradplan/
The perpetual license of Intercooled (IC 13) is recommended ($189 USD).
Other Course Materials
Other recommended supplies include a scientific calculator with a square root, natural
logarithm, and exponential key.
Academic Integrity
The Faculty of Medicine expects intellectual honesty from its students. Course participants should be
aware of University policies relating to Principles of Conduct, Plagiarism and Academic Integrity. These
are found in the printed Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar, or online under Academic Regulations in
the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar, available at http://grad.ucalgary.ca/calendar
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Cut Points For Grades
This course adheres to the grading system outlined in the University of Calgary, Faculty of
Graduate Studies Calendar. Grades of A+ and A are not distinguished in the calculation of
GPAs. Percentage/letter grade conversion used for this course is as follows:
Grade
Course
%
Grade
Point
Value*
Graduate Description*
A+
95-100
4.0
Outstanding
A
90-94
4.0
A-
85-89.5
3.7
Excellent
Very good performance
B+
77-84.5
3.3
Good performance
B
72-76.5
3.0
B-
68-71.5
2.7
C+
63-67.5
2.3
C
60-62.5
2.0
Satisfactory performance
Minimum pass for students in the Faculty of Grad Studies
All grades below B- are indicative of failure at the graduate
level and cannot be counted toward Faculty of Graduate
Studies course requirements.
Evaluation Plan:
There will be 5 components of the evaluation: Weekly (roughly) Homework Assignments, a
Midterm Exam, Think Tank Thursday attendance and participation marks, an “Essentials of
Biostatistics Micro-Conference” Poster Presentation, and a Final Exam.
Homework Assignments (20%): Approximately weekly (excluding exam weeks, etc)
homework assignments will be distributed. New homework assignments will be posted on
Thursdays and will be due at 2:30 the following Thursday. Homework assignments will then be
graded and returned on the following Tuesday. The first assignment will be posted on
September 18. Assignments should be neatly written or typed and should be numbered to
correspond to the questions on the assignment. Except in exceptional circumstances, a paper
copy is expected. Answer keys will be made available by D2L after the due date. As the answer
key will be posted immediately after the due date, late assignments will not be accepted. Truly
exceptional circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis and should be directed to
the Teaching Assistants who will seek final approval from the course Instructor.
Think Tank Thursdays (10%): Attendance at the weekly Think Tank Sessions is mandatory
and marks will be assigned based on attendance and participation. It is expected that students
will have completed the reading before the session. The ‘Think Tank Thursday Schedule’
provides the assigned readings for each week.
Midterm Test (25%): This will be a 2.5-hour closed book exam on Thursday, October 16,
2014. Material up to this point will be eligible for inclusion on the exam.
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“Essentials of Biostatistics Micro-Conference” Poster Presentation (10%): Students will
individually prepare a poster to present at the “Essentials of Biostatistics Micro-Conference” to
be held on Tuesday, December 2, 2014. Posters will be judged by invited guest judges and
written feedback provided to the students.
Dataset requirements are as follows. Each dataset must include 6-10 variables with a minimum
of 2 continuous and a minimum of 2 categorical variables. Categorical variables can be created
from continuous variables if necessary and appropriate. The dataset must consist of a minimum
of 50 records, and all personal identifiers must be removed.
A 250-word abstract of the proposed work will be due on Tuesday, October 21, 2014. The
abstract should be written as a “work in progress” style abstract including sections with the
following titles: Introduction, Objective, and Methods (including a description of the dataset).
Additional information about the Poster Project can be found on the Poster Project FAQ.
Final Exam (35%): This will be a 3-hour closed book exam scheduled by the registrar during
the exam period (December 8 – December 18). Once this date is known it will be included in
this outline. The examination will test the factual, conceptual, and interpretive components of
biostatistics, as well as hand and calculator analyses of data.
List of Course Topics:
Types of Data: Discrete, Continuous, Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio
Graphical Display: Bar Chart, Histogram, Box Plot, Dot Plot
Descriptive Statistics: Mean, Median, Mode, Variance, Standard Deviation, Standard Error,
Percentile, Interquartile Range, Skewness, Kurtosis, Proportion
Reference Distributions: Gaussian (Normal) Distribution, Student’s t Distribution
Sampling Distribution: Central Limit Theorem, Confidence Intervals
Hypothesis Testing and Statistical Significance: Logic, Errors, P-value, One-sample Tests,
Two-sample Tests (paired and independent)
Sample Size and Statistical Power: Type I Error (alpha), Type II Error (beta), Sample Size
Calcuations for Comparing Two Groups
Non-parametric Tests: Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, Mann-Whitney U Test
Chi-squared Test and Confounding: Measures of Association, Mantel-Haenszel, Fisher’s
Exact Test
Measures of Risk and Benefit: Absolute Risk Reduction, Relative Risk, Relative Risk
Reduction, Odds Ratio, Number Needed to Treat
Comparison of Several Groups: Analysis of Variance, Between-Subject Variability, WithinSubject Variability, F-ratio, Multiple Comparisons
Regression Analysis:
Regression, F-ratio, R2
Scattergram,
Pearson
Correlation
Coefficient,
Simple
Linear
Multivariate Analysis of Continuous Data: Analysis of Covariance, Change Scores
MDCH 610 - Course Syllabus - 4
Multivariate Analysis of Binary Data: Logistic Regression, Log-binomial Models
Univariate Analysis of Time-to-Event Data: Event-Free Survival Analysis
Multivariate Analysis of Time-to-Event Data: Cox Proportional Hazards Regression
Important Course Dates:
September 9:
September 11:
September 11:
September 16:
September 18:
September 18:
October 16:
October 21:
November 11:
December 2:
December 4:
First Lecture (2.5 hours)
Introduction to STATA – Information Commons (Attendance is Mandatory)
First Homework Assignment Posted
First Tutorial Session
First Homework Assignment Due (2:30 p.m.)
First Think Tank Thursday
Midterm Exam
Poster Project Summary Due
Reading Days (No Class)
Essentials of Biostatistics Micro-Conference
Review Session
Students with Disabilities
It is the student’s responsibility to request academic accommodations. If you are a student with a
documented disability who may require academic accommodation and have not registered with the
Disability Resource Centre, please contact their office at 220-8237. Students who have not registered
with the Disability Resource Centre are not eligible for formal academic accommodation. You are also
required to discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of
this course.
Important Information
Any research in which students are invited to participate will be explained in class and approved by
the appropriate University Research Ethics Board.
Cell phones must be turned off in class unless otherwise arranged with the instructor.
Assembly points for emergencies have been identified across campus. The primary assembly points
for South Campus (Health Science Centre (HSC); Health & Research Innovation Centre (HRIC); Heritage
Medical Research Building (HMRB) and Teaching, Research and Wellness (TRW)) are:
HSC and HMRB: HRIC Atrium (alternate assembly point is Parking Lot 6)
HRIC:
HMRB Atrium (alternate assembly point is Parking Lot 6)
TRW:
McCaig Tower (alternate assembly point is HMRB – Atrium)
Information and contact for the Student Ombudsman’s Office can be found at Student Ombuds Office
The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act indicates that assignments given by
you to your course instructor will remain confidential unless otherwise stated before
submission. The assignment cannot be returned to anyone else without your express
permission. Similarly, any information about yourself that you share with your course instructor
will not be given to anyone else without your permission.
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