Customer Reviews

Fundamentals of Biostatistics (with Data Disk)

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

 

 

Bernard Rosner is a Harvard Professor of Biostatistics. He has written an introductory text for undergraduate and graduate medical school students. It covers the basics of probability and inference including categorical data. Other topics include regression, correlation and survival analysis. It is written for students with no math beyond high school algebra but common mathematical notation is freely used. It includes a diskette with data for examples. Many examples are given to illustrate the concepts and SAS ouput is used to illustrate the results and familiarize the students so that they can interpret statistical output. Many exercises are given at the end of each chapter. Several require use of the data sets on the diskette. I think the author has been careful to try to make the subject understandable to medical students. He also has used the lectures notes that were the basis of the text in courses he taught in the Harvard Medical School. So he knows his audience. A unique feature is the catergorizing of exercises by medical specialty.

Rosner tries to fill an important need and does a good job. He avoids heavy mathematics without turning the text into a cookbook. This is now the fourth edition. So many improvements have been made. I gave it 4 stars. It probably deserves 4 and 1/2 stars.

This book isn't for everyone, but if you want a wide ranging textbook with a little more mathematical detail than the other intro books, this is a great choice. Rosner explains concepts well and with many examples that help the reader to understand them. The flowcharts at the back of the book were written to help readers choose the right test for the right situation, and these are extremely valuable. The only problem with the book is that it is sometimes hard to sit down and read it without any preparation (e.g., lecture or prior knowledge).

Good book. The exercises are good but a bit frustrating because you will often have to go back to find where in the chapter the specific topic was discussed, as opposed to having a section number listed by each problem. Things are well-explained though, aside from this bit of difficulty.

At the time I was taking bio-statistics for my MPH at Harvard School of Public Health, a friend was taking a different class using this book. I ended up buying it, but only as a reference. Althought the material is all here, the organization is scrambled with theory intermixed with the example that starts the topic discussion - some may like this, but personally it drives me crazy. At the end of the semester, I had a wonderful grasp of statistics, and my friend was pulling his hair out. One real plus of this book is that the index includes the clinical examples that generate the discussion, so I do use this book as a reference for "like-problems".

I used this book while pursuing my master's degree in epidemiology. I really enjoyed it and as a result, today I'm pursuing my DrPH in biostatistics. If you are really into understanding statistics, this is your book. If you are only interested in passing a course and surviving the ODDS, I refer you to Daniels' book, it's simpler and lets just say...less complicated.

This is good book. The book was in good shape when it came.
There are some marks in the middle of the book in one or two pages, but otherwise is in very good condition.