Books for Prep | |
 - definitely not helpful for 'basic' or introductory levelI have very little background in biostats, and need to learn it for medical research and research design. This book is difficult to read, has far too much emphasis on mathematics and far too little empahisis on concept. After a whole quarter in Biostats using this book, I can tell you very little about how and when to employ certain basis statistics tests or interpret them with confidence. The answers in the back are ofter erroneous, as is some of the text (according to my professor). The only thing I can seay that is good about this test is that the NCSS software that comes with it I think may be helpful at some point. I am back in the market for a better book! Rating:  - Good PrimerI bought this book in 1990 (an older version) and have never had a statistics course. I have found it to be an extremely helpful starting point for the application of statistical tests to biomedical problems. From this I have gone on and used more sophisticated tools for computation and have only rarely needed to seek out the advice of experts. The book is packed full of information and covers the broad range of problems most often encountered in biomedical science. It emphasizes an understanding of the choice an appropriate test for a given problem. Flow charts also help guide the user to the right test and the correct chapter. For this reason I have come back to it repeatedly over the years and it has become well worn. It is sparse on explanation of the statistical or mathematical proofs of methods so it is more of a cookbook than as a theoretical treatise. Rating: - Pretty GoodI actually thought this book was pretty good. I haven't used the cd. The definitions are pretty clear. I use this in conjunction with Gordis' Epidemiology for quick review. I find Rothman and Greenland is not good for that. When I am thinking about research design and elements of statistical analysis this book is easy to turn to to just go over why one test may be better than another--I am a medical student with an MPH in epi who has worked on several research projects, and I think this book is pretty helpful as a simple aid in the transition from research assistant to co-investigator. Rating: - not buy this good-for-nothing book(MUCH LESS THAN 1 STAR)If I had an enemy, I wouldn't wish even for an anemy to buy this awful and unuseful book. Do save your money. There is no any benefit in this book, just simple waste of time and money. The authors have provided CD with NCSS and PASS, but forgot to describe how the reader can use this program and fulfil all calculation. They give only the instruction to set up and a lot of tasks without any explanation of any actions in these program. So, I curse any minutes of my reading, and cannot say any good word about the book, its authors. NEVER BUY THIS BOOK!!!! Rating: - Avoid it if you canIts obvious from reading the first few chapters that the authors lack a basic understanding of the subject. For example they talk of Odds Ratio as if it was same as Relative Risk. The good thing is that they cover everything - you only have to be careful while reading it. The errata in the book is pretty obvious but the authors seem to have no time or inclination to update the website of this book. In association with Amazon.com | |