Two day Hands on Training Programme on SPSS And Research Methodology

Biostatistics was a subject which was like an untameable horse for us when we were in 4th year of our
Pharm.D course. The more we tried to bring the subject under control, the further it used to leap away
and usher into our minds a perplexing array of questions. Fathoming the concepts of statistical
softwares like SPSS, SAS and Epi Info without actually getting a first-hand visual account of their
working was like being inside a maze from which we needed to somehow get out, but not knowing
the path.
Though our principal Dr. T.N.K Suriyaprakash, through his valiant efforts had succeeded in
introducing the SPSS software to our institution; he took a further step by conducting a two day
Hands on training programme on SPSS and Research Methodology for familiarising not only the
faculties, but also the students on the basics of operating the software. This programme couldnt have
come at a better time for us as we, the 5 th year Pharm.D students are gearing up for our projects;
where understanding of both Biostatistics and Research Methodology to a better extent can give us a
firm control over the proceedings of the year. We were also blessed by the fact that the training was
imparted by 2 eminent personalities, Dr. Surulivel Rajan and Dr. Vijayanarayan from MCOPS.
The training was conducted on 9th and 10th October and the students from 4 th & 5th year Pharm.D, 1st
2nd and 3rd year P.B , M.Pharm students from all the departments as well as the faculties participated in
the programme. The topics handled by Dr. Surulivel Rajan included various types of Study Designs,
thrust areas for conducting research which gave a better perspective towards formulating the study
designs for our project. Dr. Vijayanarayan, truly a master of his trades, initially laid a platform for us
by revising the basics of biostatistics for us which included the different types of data, measures of
central tendency and dispersion, different tests to be used in testing hypothesis and when to use them
as well as sample size determination. Then came the most fascinating part, operating the SPSS
software. For the training purpose, all our laptops were installed with a 14 day trial version of IBM
SPSS statistics 22 software and we were all providing with the training aids which included question
papers and more than 15 already typed in data sets for SPSS. We were taught to identify operating
windows, enter the data in the variable and data view, perform the descriptive study, testing the
normality as well performing the different kinds of tests for the data provided to us. We were also
given assignments on the first day for 20 questions along with aids for performing the assignment
which was surely a great add-on to our training sessions.
It was overall an overwhelming 2 days of learning and applications which was really helpful for our
5th year project and we whole heartedly thank our principal as well pharmacy practice department
staffs for providing us with such a prestigious opportunity for getting introduced to the software as

well as for providing us with a firm foundation to launch our projects. We surely hope that further
such seminars, especially on the wonderful subject of biostatistics and statistical softwares will be
conducted in our institution.

ABIN CHANDRAKUMAR
5th year Pharm.D