Republic of the Philippines

NAVAL STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Arts and Sciences

Nursing and Health Sciences Department
Naval, Biliran
Telefax No. (053) 500-9045

Biostatistics Notes
Health - a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not necessarily
just the absence of disease or infirmity.
Public Health the art and science of promoting health and preventing disease, prolonging life
through organized community effort, directed at community level that either
benefit everyone or benefit those who are not under the care of physicians.
The methods are as follows:
a. Public Education/ Information dissemination to the public
b. Surveillance systems
c. Environmental Control
d. Information dissemination to health workers
Epidemiology - the study of distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in
specified populations and application of this study to control health problems.
Clinical Epidemiology the application of epidemiological principles and methods to practice of
clinical medicine.
Preventive Medicine the branch of medicine that concentrates on keeping people well with a
goal of disease prevention and health promotion.
Biostatistics the science that deals with the collection of data, organization of data, analysis
of data and interpretation of data as a result of observation
- from the Latin word Bios which means life and statistics the science that
deals with the collection, organization, analysis and interpretation of data
- the application of statistical methods to the life sciences like Biology, Medicine
and Public Health
- 2 known branches:
1. Descriptive statistics refers to the different methods applied to
summarize and present data in a form to make them easier to analyze
and interpret by using the methods of tabulation or graphical
representation
- refers to the different methods of organizing,
summarizing and presenting data in an informative way that will make
them easier to analyze and interpret, methods of tabulation, graphical
presentation, computation of averages, measures of variability are all
within the field of descriptive statistics
2. Inferential statistics refers to the methods involved in order to make
generalizations and conclusions about a target population based on
results from a sample
- refers to methods involved in order to make
generalizations and conclusions about a target population based on
results from a sample which includes estimation parameters and testing
the hypothesis
Public Health Statistics are quantitative data needed as basis for the planning, monitoring
and evaluation of health services
2 Types:
1. Vital statistics data on vital events such as births, deaths
2. Health statistics data on morbidity, hospital statistics,
service statistics such as family
planning acceptors by method, number
of deep wells inspected, number
children immunized

Variation refers to the tendency of a measurable characteristic to change from one individual
or one setting to another
Sample a portion or part of the population of interest
Sampling the act of studying or examining only a segment of the population to represent the
whole
a. Elementary unit an object or a person on which a measurement is
actually taken or an observation is made
b. Sampling unit unit that is chosen in selecting the sample and may be
made up of non-overlapping collection of elements or
elementary units
c. Sampling Frame - a collection of sampling units, the actual list of each
element or member of the target population from
which the sample may be drawn
d. Confounders anything (usually are data or samples) that potentially
confuses the results
Population the total number of individuals in a territory or a locality living at a specified
moment of time with an agreed definition of residence.
- A collection of possible individuals, objects, items or measurements of interest in
the study; the entire group of individuals or items of interest in the study
- Can be categorized into the following:
a. Size = the actual number of the population
b. Composition = components of the population, like sex ratio: male and
Female; boy and girl; man and woman
c. Age group = components of the population with a specific age range or
level:
1. Dependency ratio represents the number of dependents
that need to be supported by every working individual
2. Population Pyramid shows a clear picture of the specific
components of the population based on their age:
a. Expansive described as broad base, indicating high
proportion of children and a rapid rate of
population growth
b. Constructive base that is narrower than middle of
the pyramid, usually the result of a recent rapid
decline in fertility
c. Stationary narrow base and roughly equal numbers
in each group tapering off at the older ages,
indicating a moderate proportion of children and a
slower zero rate of growth
- Types:
a. Target Population the group from which representative information is
desired and to which inferences will be made, whatever
conclusions that will be derived from the study will be generalized
to the target population
b. Sampling Population population from which a sample will actually be
taken
Data the observed values of a Variable; numbers or measurements collected as a result of
observations, it can either be a:
a. Constant data a phenomenon whose value remains the same from person to
person; most examples can be derived from the physical
rather than the biological sciences
b. Variable data a phenomenon whose values or categories cannot be predicted
with certainty; any quality characteristic or constituent of a person or thing
that cannot be measured or is subject to change, it can either be:
1. Qualitative quality; categories are simply used as labels to
distinguish one group from another
- such as religion, blood type, educational attainment,
region in the country

2. Quantitative quantity; categories can be measured and ordered

accordingly to quantity or amount, or whose values can
be expressed numerically
- divided into:
a. discrete only can assume integral values or
whole numbers
- examples: hospital bed capacity,
household size, number of children
b. continuous can attain any value including
fractions or decimals
- examples: birth weights, arm
circumference, height
types of data according to source:
1. Primary data directly from the object of observation
- data or information in its original form
- reflects the view point of the participant or observer of an
event or phenomenon
- data or information that has not been previously interpreted,
commented or translated, data that are tabulated but not
interpreted
- examples: age, newspaper articles, speeches, diaries,
journals
2. Secondary data previously collected which provides analysis and
Interpretation of event or a phenomenon
- subsequent interpretations or studies that are based on
primary sources
- examples: textbooks, dictionaries, leading cause of
mortality and morbidity
Data are obtained through measurements, the assigning of numbers to
observations and analysis which consists in manipulating or operating on these
numbers, the four common scales of measurement usually used are:
a. Nominal scale uses names, numbers or other symbols to assign each
measurement to one of a limited number of categories that cannot be
ordered one above the other