Utilization of Statistical Methods in Microbiological Research

Most papers published in medical journals contain analyses that have been carried out without any help from a statistician. Although nearly all medical researchers have some acquaintance with basic statistics, there is no easy way for them to acquire insight into important statistical concepts and principles. There is also little help available about how to design, analyze, and write up a whole research paper. A high level of statistical errors has been noted in several reviews of journal articles and has caused much concern. It has been suggested that comprehensive statistical guidelines could help by making medical researchers more aware of important statistical principles, and by indicating what information ought to be supplied in a paper.

Some familiarity with statistical methods and ideas is assumed, since some knowledge of statistics is necessary before carrying out statistical analyses. For those with only a limited acquaintance with statistics. The lack of precise recommendations indicates that good statistical analysis requires common sense and judgment, as well as a repertoire of formal techniques, so that there is an art in statistics as well as in medicine.

Evaluate the use of various statistical methods; statistical software; complexity of statistical analysis; and appropriateness of use of statistical methods in recent research publications of basic medical sciences.