Table 2 Classification of statistical methods (after Emerson and Colditz, 1983) [10]
From: A survey of statistics in three UK general practice journal
Category | Brief description |
|---|---|
No statistical methods or descriptive statistics | No statistical content, or descriptive statistics only (e.g., percentages, means Standard deviations, standard errors, histograms |
Contingency tables | Chi-square tests, Fisher's test, McNemar's test |
Multiway tables | Mantel-Haenszel procedure, log-linear models |
Epidemiological studies | Relative risk, odds ratio, log odds, measures of association, sensitivity, specificity |
t-tests | One-sample, matched pair, and two sample t- tests |
Pearson correlation | Classic product-moment correlation |
Simple linear regression | Least-squares regression with one predictor and one response variable |
Multiple regression | Includes polynomial regression and stepwise regression |
Analysis of variance | Analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and F-tests |
Multiple comparisons | Procedures for handling multiple inferences on same data sets (e.g., Bonferroni techniques, Scheffe's contrasts, Duncan's multiple range procedures, Newmann-Keuls procedure) |
Non-parametric tests | Sign test, Wilcoxon signed ranks test, Mann- Whitney test, Spearman's rho, Kendall's tau, test for trend |
Life table | Actuarial life table, Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival |
Regression for survival | Includes Cox regression and logistic regression |
Other survival analysis | Breslow's Kruskal Wallis, log rank, Cox model for comparing survival |
Adjustment & standardisation | Pertains to incidence rates and prevalence rates |
Sensitivity analysis | Examines sensitivity of outcome to small changes in assumptions |
Power | Loosely defined, includes use of the size of detectable (or useful) difference in determining sample size |
Transformation | Use of data transformation (e.g., logs) often in regression |
Cost-benefit analysis | The process of combining estimates of cost and health outcomes to compare policy alternatives |
Other | Anything not fitting the above headings includes cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and some mathematical modelling |