Customer Reviews

Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials, Second Edition (Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I keep a copy of this book in my office to loan out to students who are reviewing for biostatistics exams, and colleagues who feel the need to brush up on their biostats.

The book definitely does assume some basic knowledge about statistics -- I wouldn't recommend it for someone trying to learn about biostats for the first time. It's really best for someone who already has some kind of formal training in biostatistics, but doesn't want to have to dredge through the heavy textbooks for every question -- I can definitely find the answers to my most common questions in this book much more quickly than I can in my formal textbooks.

For those looking for a less technical introduction to biostatistics that doesn't presume a lot of preexisting knowledge, I'd suggest Modulsky's 'Intuitive Biostatistics'.

This is the single best textbook on biostatistics that you will ever buy. It's that simple. It's complete (includes most of the major statistical tests). It's readable enough to be a self-study text. It shows the math; unlike most statistical textbooks, however, the authors explain the equations and derivations in English versus statisticese. The very best thing about this text is that it is funny. How many times do you smile or even giggle when you read a biostatistics book? Unless you're two standard deviations from the mean, you'll do it with this one. This text is most appropriate for the health care professional who is trying to make sense of the statistical analysis section of published papers and needs a readable reference.

This book is a well written and light hearted synopsis of the important tools used by statisticians, epidemiologists, and others who attempt to compare the characteristics of groups of people. Although the humor is occasionally strained it is generally quite confortable.

"Biostatistics The Bare Essentials" is particularly valuable for those of us who quickly become overwhelmed by pages full of algebraic symbols. The authors actually manage to explain statistical concepts in english with a minimum of equations. The equations that are introduced are explained in a concise and readable style. This book can be valuable as either an introduction or a review.

I am not as enamored with this book as the other reviewers. Even though the authors tried to simplify statistics, I still found the concepts confusing. The much-praised "humor" I felt was corny and occasionally annoying. I read this book along with a standard statistics textbook, and I didn't feel that it helped to clarify things too much. Perhaps there are no shortcuts to learning statistics.

Although I have long since graduated to much less easygoing fare, I love this book. When I was a confused and clueless medical student, this was the first text that helped me to come to terms with biostatistical concepts.

If you have a background in psychology or other softer sciences, are facing your first biostatistics class, and find other texts a bit scary or obscure, this is definitely worth a try.

The jokes become annoying and the examples a bit garbled on a second read, but I still love this book because of the clarity of its visuals. I also like and highly recommend the chapters on factor analysis and survival analysis, and usually give this book to new students in our lab.

I took stat 20 years ago, and decided I needed an update, particularly regarding how to calculate sample size: this book was the ticket. A lot about sample size always seemed to me to be smoke-and-mirrors, and WHEN that's so (not always, but sometimes!), Norman and Streiner admit it, saving the learner a lot of frustration. Money well spent.

I found this book very complete, and an excellent companion to a course. Formulas and concepts are carefully explained in English for non-statisticians. AND it's most enjoyable to read! I recommend it to anybody involved in statistics, as a user, as a student, or as a critic.

These guys are great! An easy-to-read, enjoyable stats book. Never seen one like it. Although it's titled 'biostatistics', it's for anyone who wants to actually understand what statistics is.

I have to agree with all the posted reviews. This is the book I turn to for real explanations. Currently suffering through a Masters course in Biostatistics using Altman as the main text. I read it first, then come here to see what I missed. This text will help me pass my final!!

This book is written as a review for people have already taken some kind of statistics or biostatistic. The funny unique writing style keeps me focus and actually helps me to understand the material better. People who have never taken any statistic class may have a harder time. However, why would any one who has no statistic background try to read a book titles "Biostatistics." There are alway those Dummy books. Even people with no statistic background but with some mathematics background will appreciate this book.