Download or read book Measuring Racial Discrimination written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-07-24 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many racial and ethnic groups in the United States, including blacks, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and others, have historically faced severe discriminationâ€"pervasive and open denial of civil, social, political, educational, and economic opportunities. Today, large differences among racial and ethnic groups continue to exist in employment, income and wealth, housing, education, criminal justice, health, and other areas. While many factors may contribute to such differences, their size and extent suggest that various forms of discriminatory treatment persist in U.S. society and serve to undercut the achievement of equal opportunity. Measuring Racial Discrimination considers the definition of race and racial discrimination, reviews the existing techniques used to measure racial discrimination, and identifies new tools and areas for future research. The book conducts a thorough evaluation of current methodologies for a wide range of circumstances in which racial discrimination may occur, and makes recommendations on how to better assess the presence and effects of discrimination.

Download or read book Design of Observational Studies written by Paul R. Rosenbaum and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-10-22 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An observational study is an empiric investigation of effects caused by treatments when randomized experimentation is unethical or infeasible. Observational studies are common in most fields that study the effects of treatments on people, including medicine, economics, epidemiology, education, psychology, political science and sociology. The quality and strength of evidence provided by an observational study is determined largely by its design. Design of Observational Studies is both an introduction to statistical inference in observational studies and a detailed discussion of the principles that guide the design of observational studies. Design of Observational Studies is divided into four parts. Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of Part I cover concisely, in about one hundred pages, many of the ideas discussed in Rosenbaum’s Observational Studies (also published by Springer) but in a less technical fashion. Part II discusses the practical aspects of using propensity scores and other tools to create a matched comparison that balances many covariates. Part II includes a chapter on matching in R. In Part III, the concept of design sensitivity is used to appraise the relative ability of competing designs to distinguish treatment effects from biases due to unmeasured covariates. Part IV discusses planning the analysis of an observational study, with particular reference to Sir Ronald Fisher’s striking advice for observational studies, "make your theories elaborate." The second edition of his book, Observational Studies, was published by Springer in 2002.

Download or read book Observational Studies written by Paul R. Rosenbaum and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An observational study is an empirical investigation of the effects of treatments, policies, or exposures. It differes from an experiment in that the investigator cannot control the assignments of treatments to subjects. Scientists across a wide range of disciplines undertake such studies, and the aim of this book is to provide a sound statistical account of the principles and methods for the design and analysis of observational studies. Readers are assumed to have a working knowledge of basic probability and statistics, but otherwise the account is reasonably self-contained. Throughout there are extended discussions of actual observational studies to illustrate the ideas discussed. These are drawn from topics as diverse as smoking and lung cancer, lead in children, nuclear weapons testing, and placement programs for students. As a result, many researchers involved in observational studes will find this an invaluable companion to their work.

Download or read book Developing a Protocol for Observational Comparative Effectiveness Research A User s Guide written by Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (U.S.) and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2013-02-21 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This User’s Guide is a resource for investigators and stakeholders who develop and review observational comparative effectiveness research protocols. It explains how to (1) identify key considerations and best practices for research design; (2) build a protocol based on these standards and best practices; and (3) judge the adequacy and completeness of a protocol. Eleven chapters cover all aspects of research design, including: developing study objectives, defining and refining study questions, addressing the heterogeneity of treatment effect, characterizing exposure, selecting a comparator, defining and measuring outcomes, and identifying optimal data sources. Checklists of guidance and key considerations for protocols are provided at the end of each chapter. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews. More more information, please consult the Agency website: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov)

Download or read book Statistical Inference as Severe Testing written by Deborah G. Mayo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-20 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mounting failures of replication in social and biological sciences give a new urgency to critically appraising proposed reforms. This book pulls back the cover on disagreements between experts charged with restoring integrity to science. It denies two pervasive views of the role of probability in inference: to assign degrees of belief, and to control error rates in a long run. If statistical consumers are unaware of assumptions behind rival evidence reforms, they can't scrutinize the consequences that affect them (in personalized medicine, psychology, etc.). The book sets sail with a simple tool: if little has been done to rule out flaws in inferring a claim, then it has not passed a severe test. Many methods advocated by data experts do not stand up to severe scrutiny and are in tension with successful strategies for blocking or accounting for cherry picking and selective reporting. Through a series of excursions and exhibits, the philosophy and history of inductive inference come alive. Philosophical tools are put to work to solve problems about science and pseudoscience, induction and falsification.

Download or read book Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions written by Julian P. T. Higgins and published by Wiley. This book was released on 2008-11-24 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com). The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves.

Download or read book Analysing Survival Data from Clinical Trials and Observational Studies written by Ettore Marubini and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-07-02 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical guide to methods of survival analysis for medical researchers with limited statistical experience. Methods and techniques described range from descriptive and exploratory analysis to multivariate regression methods. Uses illustrative data from actual clinical trials and observational studies to describe methods of analysing and reporting results. Also reviews the features and performance of statistical software available for applying the methods of analysis discussed.

Download or read book Statistics in Scientific Investigation written by Glen McPherson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 689 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book I have taken on the challenge of providing an insight into Statistics and a blueprint for statistical application for a wide audience. For students in the sciences and related professional areas and for researchers who may need to apply Statistics in the course of scientific experimenta tion, the development emphasizes the manner in which Statistics fits into the framework of the scientific method. Mathematics students will find a unified, but non-mathematical structure for Statistics which can provide the motivation for the theoretical development found in standard texts on theoretical Statistics. For statisticians and students of Statistics, the ideas contained in the book and their manner of development may aid in the de velopment of better communications between scientists and statisticians. The demands made of readers are twofold: a minimal mathematical prerequisite which is simply an ability to comprehend formulae containing mathematical variables, such as those derived from a high school course in algebra or the equivalent; a grasp of the process of scientific modeling which comes with ei ther experience in scientific experimentation or practice with solving mathematical problems.

Download or read book The Behavioral and Social Sciences written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1988-02-01 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the scientific frontiers and leading edges of research across the fields of anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, history, business, education, geography, law, and psychiatry, as well as the newer, more specialized areas of artificial intelligence, child development, cognitive science, communications, demography, linguistics, and management and decision science. It includes recommendations concerning new resources, facilities, and programs that may be needed over the next several years to ensure rapid progress and provide a high level of returns to basic research.

Download or read book The Practice of Statistics written by Daren S. Starnes and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-12-17 with total page 959 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: View a Panopto recording of textbook author Daren Starnes detailing ten reasons the new fourth edition of The Practice of Statistics is the right choice for the AP* Statistics course. Watch instructor video reviews here. Available for your Fall 2010 Course! Request Sample Chapter 3 here. The most thorough and exciting revision to date, The Practice of Statistics 4e is a text that fits all AP* Statistics classrooms. Authors Starnes, Yates and Moore drew upon the guidance of some of the most notable names in AP* and their students to create a text that fits today’s classroom. The new edition comes complete with new pedagogical changes, including built-in AP* testing, four-step examples, section summaries, “Check Your Understanding” boxes and more. The Practice of Statistics long stands as the only high school statistics textbook that directly reflects the College Board course description for AP* Statistics. Combining the data analysis approach with the power of technology, innovative pedagogy, and a number of new features, the fourth edition will provide you and your students with the most effective text for learning statistics and succeeding on the AP* Exam.

Download or read book Small Clinical Trials written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clinical trials are used to elucidate the most appropriate preventive, diagnostic, or treatment options for individuals with a given medical condition. Perhaps the most essential feature of a clinical trial is that it aims to use results based on a limited sample of research participants to see if the intervention is safe and effective or if it is comparable to a comparison treatment. Sample size is a crucial component of any clinical trial. A trial with a small number of research participants is more prone to variability and carries a considerable risk of failing to demonstrate the effectiveness of a given intervention when one really is present. This may occur in phase I (safety and pharmacologic profiles), II (pilot efficacy evaluation), and III (extensive assessment of safety and efficacy) trials. Although phase I and II studies may have smaller sample sizes, they usually have adequate statistical power, which is the committee's definition of a "large" trial. Sometimes a trial with eight participants may have adequate statistical power, statistical power being the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the hypothesis is false. Small Clinical Trials assesses the current methodologies and the appropriate situations for the conduct of clinical trials with small sample sizes. This report assesses the published literature on various strategies such as (1) meta-analysis to combine disparate information from several studies including Bayesian techniques as in the confidence profile method and (2) other alternatives such as assessing therapeutic results in a single treated population (e.g., astronauts) by sequentially measuring whether the intervention is falling above or below a preestablished probability outcome range and meeting predesigned specifications as opposed to incremental improvement.

Download or read book Tutorials in Biostatistics Statistical Methods in Clinical Studies written by Ralph B. D'Agostino and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2005-09-27 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tutorials in Biostatistics have become a very popular feature of the prestigious Wiley journal, Statistics in Medicine (SIM). The introductory style and practical focus make them accessible to a wide audience including medical practitioners with limited statistical knowledge. This book represents the first of two volumes presenting the best tutorials published in SIM, focusing on statistical methods in clinical studies. Topics include the design and analysis of clinical trials, epidemiology, survival analysis, and data monitoring. Each tutorial is focused on a medical problem, has been fully peer-reviewed and edited, and is authored by leading researchers in biostatistics. Many articles include an appendix on the latest developments since publication in the journal and additional references. This will appeal to statisticians working in medical research, as well as statistically-minded clinicians, biologists, epidemiologists and geneticists. It will also appeal to graduate students of biostatistics.

Download or read book Statistical Design for Research written by Leslie Kish and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2005-02-25 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wiley Classics Library consists of selected books that have become recognized classics in their respective fields. With these new unabridged and inexpensive editions, Wiley hopes to extend the life of these important works by making them available to future generations of mathematicians and scientists. This title addresses those basic aspects of research design which are common to many related fields in the social sciences, health sciences, education, and market research. The work presents a unified approach to a common core of problems of statistical design that exists in all these fields, along with basic similarities in practical solutions. Describing many examples and analogies that are 'portable' from application field to application field, Statistical Design for Research deals with designs that are the primary basis of research studies, but are neglected in most statistical textbooks that tend to concentrate on statistical analysis. This text takes a broader, more general and philosophical view of the statistics for the more fundamental aspects of design than do the standard treatments of experimental design. Extensively illustrated and carefully organized into seven chapters and 44 sections, this book can be readily consulted by research workers or graduate students!

Download or read book Statistical Data Analysis and Inference written by Y. Dodge and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2014-05-23 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wide range of topics and perspectives in the field of statistics are brought together in this volume. The contributions originate from invited papers presented at an international conference which was held in honour of C. Radhakrishna Rao, one of the most eminent statisticians of our time and a distinguished scientist.

Download or read book Statistical Methods for Comparative Studies written by Sharon Roe Anderson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings together techniques for the design and analysis of comparative studies. Methods include multivariate matching, standardization and stratification, analysis of covariance, logit analysis, and log linear analysis. Quantitatively assesses techniques' effectiveness in reducing bias. Discusses hypothesis testing, survival analysis, repeated measure design, and causal inference from comparative studies.

Download or read book Critical Appraisal of Epidemiological Studies and Clinical Trials written by Mark Elwood and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-02-22 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a logical system of critical appraisal, to allow readers to evaluate studies and to carry out their own studies more effectively. This system emphasizes the central importance of cause and effect relationships. Its great strength is that it is applicable to a wide range of issues, and both to intervention trials and observational studies. This system unifies the often different approaches used in epidemiology, health services research, clinical trials, and evidence-based medicine, starting from a logical consideration of cause and effect. The author's approach to the issues of study design, selection of subjects, bias, confounding, and the place of statistical methods has been praised for its clarity and interest. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and the applications of this logic to evidence-based medicine, knowledge-based health care, and health practice and policy are discussed. Current and often controversial examples are used, including screening for prostate cancer, publication bias in psychiatry, public health issues in developing countries, and conflicts between observational studies and randomized trials. Statistical issues are explained clearly without complex mathematics, and the most useful methods are summarized in the appendix. The final chapters give six applications of the critical appraisal of major studies: randomized trials of medical treatment and prevention, a prospective and a retrospective cohort study, a small matched case-control study, and a large case-control study. In these chapters, sections of the original papers are reproduced and the original studies placed in context by a summary of current developments.

Download or read book Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions written by Joseph L. Fleiss and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-06-12 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Das für Fachleute und fortgeschrittene Studenten konzipierte Buch beschäftigt sich mit dem Entwurf und der Analyse von Untersuchungen, Studien und Experimenten, bei denen qualitative und kategorische Daten anfallen. - jetzt in dritter Auflage - neue Informationen unter anderem zur logistischen Regression, zur Binomialverteilung, zu Daten von (zufälligen) Stichproben und zu den Delta-Methoden für Multinomialfrequenzen - Buch ist auf seinem Gebiet führend, das bewährte Material der Vorgängerauflagen wurde übernommen