Biostatistics

The course focuses on giving an understanding to the statistical reasoning within scientific methodology and the analyses of data. To start with, the role that statistical methodology has within scientific methodology is described and discussed. In the course, different structures of data is discussed, among them quantitative and qualitative data, as well as different levels of measurement. Descriptive statistics is introduced in the course through use of tables, figures and statistical measurements. The concept of statistical inference is introduced with emphasis on confidence intervals and hypothesis tests. Statistical inference is applied through statistical analysis methods for comparisons of groups in order to investigate dependencies between variables. The course is  concluded with a description of linear regression as method for analyses. During a literature seminar, research articles related to public health will be discussed with a focus on the statistical method. Throughout the course the theoretical parts will be illustrated from use of practical computer exercises where statistical software is used.