About Course

Backdrop

There is no dearth of excellent textbooks, online courses or websites dealing with the fundamentals of statistical analysis. However, most users of statistics are more concerned with how to design their own experiments, perform the statistical analysis and interpret the results properly, than with getting into the gory details of how the test works in the first place. This is easier said than done because in statistics, there are multiple ways of doing the same analysis, and some times, these analyses can lead contradictory interpretations. Therefore, a user needs to have a thorough understanding of the assumptions and weaknesses of the various statistical procedures to identify the correct analysis for their data. To complicate matters further, many of the latest statistical tests are available either only in expensive proprietary software or in free-wares like R that have a steep learning curve. Biostatistics: a user's perspective is an intensive online course meant for scientists and professionals grappling with these issues.

Course requirements

No prior knowledge of statistics or computer programming is required for its participants. Only basic ability to handle computers (install programs, use browsers, MS Word / Excel, or their equivalents) are expected. The mathematics used in the course will be minimal. However, the course will be intense and fast-paced.

This course expects the participants to perform statistical analysis using a host of free software following the guidance. The participants will also need to access the course website to get teaching materials (custom made scripts, software, data set) as well as solve assignments and self-evaluation quizzes. Therefore the participants need to have access to a laptop or a desktop during the online course.