Principles of Biostatistics

📘 About This Book

This edition is a reprint of the second edition published in 2000 by Brooks/Cole and then Cengage Learning. Principles of Biostatistics is aimed at students in the biological and health sciences who wish to learn modern research methods. It is based on a required course offered at the Harvard School of Public Health. In addition to these graduate students, many health professionals from the Harvard medical area attend as well. The book is divided into three parts. The first five chapters deal with collections of numbers and ways in which to summarize, explore, and explain them. The next two chapters focus on probability and introduce the tools needed for the subsequent investigation of uncertainty. It is only in the eighth chapter and thereafter that the authors distinguish between populations and samples and begin to investigate the inherent variability introduced by sampling, thus progressing to inference. Postponing the slightly more difficult concepts until a solid foundation has been established makes it easier for the reader to comprehend them. All supplements, including a manual for students with solutions for odd-numbered exercises, a manual for instructors with solutions to all exercises, and selected data sets, are available at http://www.crcpress.com/9781138593145. Marcello Pagano is Professor of Statistical Computing in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health. His research in biostatistics is on computer intensive inference and surveillance methods that involve screening methodologies, with their associated laboratory tests, and in obtaining more accurate testing results that use existing technologies. Kimberlee Gauvreau is Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gauvreau’s research focuses on biostatistical issues arising in the field of pediatric cardiology. She also works on the development and validation of methods of adjustment for case mix complexity.

📖 Summary

Principles of Biostatistics by Marcello Pagano is a comprehensive and structured mathematical textbook tailored specifically for students and practitioners within the biological and health sciences who seek to master modern research methods. Originally stemming from a required course taught at the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health, this text bridges the gap between raw biological data and rigorous statistical analysis. Beyond graduate students enrolled at Harvard, the curriculum has historically attracted a wide array of health professionals from the broader Harvard medical community, speaking to its practical relevance in real-world clinical and public health settings. Spanning 767 pages, the book is methodically organized into three distinct parts, ensuring that learners build a solid foundation before advancing to complex inferential techniques. The journey begins in the opening five chapters, which focus extensively on collections of numbers, teaching readers how to effectively summarize, explore, and explain data through descriptive statistics. This initial phase equips students with the essential exploratory tools needed to visualize distributions and understand central tendencies and dispersion within biological datasets. Following the exploratory foundation, the next two chapters shift focus toward the core principles of probability, introducing the necessary mathematical machinery required for the subsequent investigation of uncertainty. Probability serves as the bridge between merely describing a sample and making broader claims about the world. It is only when readers reach the eighth chapter and beyond that the text formally distinguishes between sample data and the underlying populations from which they are drawn, unlocking the realm of statistical inference. Throughout the volume, Pagano maintains a rigorous yet accessible mathematical tone, ensuring that biological and health science students can grasp how quantitative methods drive modern scientific discovery. By grounding abstract mathematical concepts in concrete health and biological applications, the book prepares researchers to critically evaluate scientific literature, design sound experiments, and draw valid conclusions from uncertain data. Whether used as a primary classroom text or as a long-term reference for health professionals navigating data analysis, Principles of Biostatistics remains an enduring resource for mastering the quantitative backbone of medical and biological research.

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