How Should we Reform the Teaching of Statistics?

Yates, Frances; Healy, M. J. R.

doi:10.2307/2344003

Cited by 31 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Yates and Healy [1] once stated, “It is depressing to find how much good biological work is in danger of being wasted through incompetent and misleading analyses of numerical results.”…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Retrospective Survey of Research Design and Statistical Analyses in Selected Chinese Medical Journals in 1998 and 2008

Jin

Zhang

et al. 2010

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundHigh quality clinical research not only requires advanced professional knowledge, but also needs sound study design and correct statistical analyses. The number of clinical research articles published in Chinese medical journals has increased immensely in the past decade, but study design quality and statistical analyses have remained suboptimal. The aim of this investigation was to gather evidence on the quality of study design and statistical analyses in clinical researches conducted in China for the first decade of the new millennium.Methodology/Principal FindingsTen (10) leading Chinese medical journals were selected and all original articles published in 1998 (N = 1,335) and 2008 (N = 1,578) were thoroughly categorized and reviewed. A well-defined and validated checklist on study design, statistical analyses, results presentation, and interpretation was used for review and evaluation. Main outcomes were the frequencies of different types of study design, error/defect proportion in design and statistical analyses, and implementation of CONSORT in randomized clinical trials. From 1998 to 2008: The error/defect proportion in statistical analyses decreased significantly ( = 12.03, p<0.001), 59.8% (545/1,335) in 1998 compared to 52.2% (664/1,578) in 2008. The overall error/defect proportion of study design also decreased ( = 21.22, p<0.001), 50.9% (680/1,335) compared to 42.40% (669/1,578). In 2008, design with randomized clinical trials remained low in single digit (3.8%, 60/1,578) with two-third showed poor results reporting (defects in 44 papers, 73.3%). Nearly half of the published studies were retrospective in nature, 49.3% (658/1,335) in 1998 compared to 48.2% (761/1,578) in 2008. Decreases in defect proportions were observed in both results presentation ( = 93.26, p<0.001), 92.7% (945/1,019) compared to 78.2% (1023/1,309) and interpretation ( = 27.26, p<0.001), 9.7% (99/1,019) compared to 4.3% (56/1,309), some serious ones persisted.Conclusions/SignificanceChinese medical research seems to have made significant progress regarding statistical analyses, but there remains ample room for improvement regarding study designs. Retrospective clinical studies are the most often used design, whereas randomized clinical trials are rare and often show methodological weaknesses. Urgent implementation of the CONSORT statement is imperative.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Retrospective Survey of Research Design and Statistical Analyses in Selected Chinese Medical Journals in 1998 and 2008

Jin

Zhang

et al. 2010

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It can be argued that the poor image of statisticians in the business world results largely from our de®ciency in this core competence. This view has been expressed by Yates and Healy (1964), Box (1979) and Caulcutt (1987) among others. The ability of statisticians to communicate with colleagues from other disciplines could perhaps be improved in the longer term by changing the undergraduate and Masters level courses in statistics.…”

Section: Dedicationmentioning

confidence: 91%

The Future Role of Statistics in Quality Engineering and Management (with Discussion)

Bendell

Disney

McCollin

1999

J Royal Statistical Soc D

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Statisticians are concerned that the business world does not regard statistical literacy, or statisticians, as important. Little progress has been made in spreading the belief in the power of statistics to the non-statistical. This problem is as strong in the context of supporting organizational and product quality improvement as it is elsewhere. We summarize the effect of Genichi Taguchi's work on industrial experimentation, as well as developments in the use of statistical process control, statistical reliability requirements and other statistical approaches to quality. The effect of developments in quality systems standards, such as BS EN ISO 9000, the European Business Excellence Award Model and the Baldrige Award, are also discussed. We argue that statisticians' attitudes to non-statisticians and the use of their discipline will have to change if statistics is to realize its potential in supporting quality improvement. Re-education is necessary not just for the non-statistician but for the statistical community as well.

show abstract

“…(Yates and Healy, 1964) It is equally true today, and of fields other than biology. A lot of research efforts are either unconcluded or rejected by clients/reviewers due to inappropriate statistical analysis and interpretation.…”

Section: The Need For Teaching Statistical Consultingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical Consulting and the African Universities

Olaomi¹

2011

Afr. Res. Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper canvasses for the teaching of statistical consulting as a course in African Universities.Hitherto, majority of the African Universities curriculum in statistics just provides for the teaching of the act of consulting as an intern with older statistician. Since African students, learning statistics, are given little, if any, preparation for actual consulting, they are therefore prone, particularly in their early years, to commit errors of the third kind: the error committed by giving the right answer to the wrong problem. Many of these errors could be avoided if the students were properly trained. The paper draws the attention of students, administrators, consultants and educators to move more rapidly in filling this wide gap in statistics training/curriculum. The paper also looks at the technical and non-technical issues in statistical consulting, and proposes remedial measures to having consultants that are measured up to the herculean task of statistical consulting.

show abstract

How Should we Reform the Teaching of Statistics?

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

A Retrospective Survey of Research Design and Statistical Analyses in Selected Chinese Medical Journals in 1998 and 2008

A Retrospective Survey of Research Design and Statistical Analyses in Selected Chinese Medical Journals in 1998 and 2008

The Future Role of Statistics in Quality Engineering and Management (with Discussion)

Statistical Consulting and the African Universities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About