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Tutorials in Clinical Research: Part VII. Understanding Comparative Statistics (Contrast)–Part A: General Concepts of Statistical Significance
Author(s) -
Neely J. Gail,
Hartman James M.,
Forsen James W.,
Wallace Mark S.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-200309000-00024
Subject(s) - contrast (vision) , computer science , construct (python library) , reading (process) , data science , mathematics education , management science , psychology , artificial intelligence , linguistics , engineering , philosophy , programming language
Objectives/Hypothesis The present tutorial is the seventh in a series of Tutorials in Clinical Research. The specific purpose of the tutorial (Part A) and its sequel (Part B) is to introduce and explain three commonly used statistical tools for assessing contrast in the comparison between two groups. Study Design Tutorial. Methods The authors met weekly for 10 months discussing clinical research studies and the applied statistics. The difficulty was not in the material but in the effort to make the report easy to read and as short as possible. Results The tutorial is organized into two parts. Part A, which is the present report, focuses on the fundamental concepts of the null hypothesis and comparative statistical significance. The sequel, Part B, discusses the application of three common statistical indexes of contrast, the χ 2 , Mann‐Whitney U , and Student t tests. Conclusions Assessing the validity of medical studies requires a working knowledge of research design and statistics; obtaining this knowledge need not be beyond the ability of the busy surgeon. The authors have tried to construct an accurate, easy‐to‐read, easy‐to‐apply, basic introduction to comparing two groups. The long‐term goal of the present tutorial and others in the series is to facilitate basic understanding of clinical research, thereby stimulating reading of some of the numerous well‐written research design and statistical texts. This knowledge may then be applied to the continuing educational review of the literature and the systematic prospective analysis of individual practices.