Search

This second edition of Design of Observational Studies is both an introduction to statistical inference in observational studies and a detailed discussion of the principles that guide the design of observational studies. An observational study is an empiric investigation of effects caused by treatments when randomized experimentation is unethical or infeasible. Observational studies are common in most fields that study the effects of treatments on people, including medicine, economics, epidemiology, education, psychology, political science and sociology. The quality and strength of evidence provided by an observational study is determined largely by its design. Design of Observational Studies is organized into five parts. Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of Part I cover concisely many of the ideas discussed in Rosenbaum's Observational Studies (also published by Springer) but in a less technical fashion. Part II discusses the practical aspects of using propensity scores and other tools to create a matched comparison that balances many covariates, and includes an updated chapter on matching in R. In Part III, the concept of design sensitivity is used to appraise the relative ability of competing designs to distinguish treatment effects from biases due to unmeasured covariates. Part IV is new to this edition; it discusses evidence factors and the computerized construction of more than one comparison group. Part V discusses planning the analysis of an observational study, with particular reference to Sir Ronald Fisher's striking advice for observational studies:'make your theories elaborate.'This new edition features updated exploration of causal influence, with four new chapters, a new R package DOS2 designed as a companion for the book, and discussion of several of the latest matching packages for R. In particular, DOS2 allows readers to reproduce many analyses from Design of Observational Studies.

This accessible introductory textbook provides a straightforward, practical explanation of how statistical analysis and error measurements should be applied in biological research. Understanding Statistical Error - A Primer for Biologists: Introduces the essential topic of error analysis to biologists Contains mathematics at a level that all biologists can grasp Presents the formulas required to calculate each confidence interval for use in practice Is based on a successful series of lectures from the author's established course Assuming no prior knowledge of statistics, this book covers the central topics needed for efficient data analysis, ranging from probability distributions, statistical estimators, confidence intervals, error propagation and uncertainties in linear regression, to advice on how to use error bars in graphs properly. Using simple mathematics, all these topics are carefully explained and illustrated with figures and worked examples. The emphasis throughout is on visual representation and on helping the reader to approach the analysis of experimental data with confidence. This useful guide explains how to evaluate uncertainties of key parameters, such as the mean, median, proportion and correlation coefficient. Crucially, the reader will also learn why confidence intervals are important and how they compare against other measures of uncertainty. Understanding Statistical Error - A Primer for Biologists can be used both by students and researchers to deepen their knowledge and find practical formulae to carry out error analysis calculations. It is a valuable guide for students, experimental biologists and professional researchers in biology, biostatistics, computational biology, cell and molecular biology, ecology, biological chemistry, drug discovery, biophysics, as well as wider subjects within life sciences and any field where error analysis is required.

This highly popular introduction to confidence intervals has been thoroughly updated and expanded. It includes methods for using confidence intervals, with illustrative worked examples and extensive guidelines and checklists to help the novice.

Praise for the First Edition “This book will serve to greatly complement the growing number of texts dealing with mixed models, and I highly recommend including it in one's personal library.” —Journal of the American Statistical Association Mixed modeling is a crucial area of statistics, enabling the analysis of clustered and longitudinal data. Mixed Models: Theory and Applications with R, Second Edition fills a gap in existing literature between mathematical and applied statistical books by presenting a powerful examination of mixed model theory and application with special attention given to the implementation in R. The new edition provides in-depth mathematical coverage of mixed models'statistical properties and numerical algorithms, as well as nontraditional applications, such as regrowth curves, shapes, and images. The book features the latest topics in statistics including modeling of complex clustered or longitudinal data, modeling data with multiple sources of variation, modeling biological variety and heterogeneity, Healthy Akaike Information Criterion (HAIC), parameter multidimensionality, and statistics of image processing. Mixed Models: Theory and Applications with R, Second Edition features unique applications of mixed model methodology, as well as: Comprehensive theoretical discussions illustrated by examples and figures Over 300 exercises, end-of-section problems, updated data sets, and R subroutines Problems and extended projects requiring simulations in R intended to reinforce material Summaries of major results and general points of discussion at the end of each chapter Open problems in mixed modeling methodology, which can be used as the basis for research or PhD dissertations Ideal for graduate-level courses in mixed statistical modeling, the book is also an excellent reference for professionals in a range of fields, including cancer research, computer science, and engineering.

An observational study is an empiric investigation of effects caused by treatments when randomized experimentation is unethical or infeasible. Observational studies are common in most fields that study the effects of treatments on people, including medicine, economics, epidemiology, education, psychology, political science and sociology. The quality and strength of evidence provided by an observational study is determined largely by its design. Design of Observational Studies is both an introduction to statistical inference in observational studies and a detailed discussion of the principles that guide the design of observational studies. Design of Observational Studies is divided into four parts. Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of Part I cover concisely, in about one hundred pages, many of the ideas discussed in Rosenbaum's Observational Studies (also published by Springer) but in a less technical fashion. Part II discusses the practical aspects of using propensity scores and other tools to create a matched comparison that balances many covariates. Part II includes a chapter on matching in R. In Part III, the concept of design sensitivity is used to appraise the relative ability of competing designs to distinguish treatment effects from biases due to unmeasured covariates. Part IV discusses planning the analysis of an observational study, with particular reference to Sir Ronald Fisher's striking advice for observational studies,'make your theories elaborate.'The second edition of his book, Observational Studies, was published by Springer in 2002.

S+Functional Data Analysis is the first commercial object oriented package for exploring, modeling, and analyzing functional data. Functional data analysis (FDA) handles longitudinal data and treats each observation as a function of time (or other variable). The functions are related. The goal is to analyze a sample of functions instead of a sample of related points. FDA differs from traditional data analytic techniques in a number of ways. Functions can be evaluated at any point in their domain. Derivatives and integrals, which may provide better information (e.g. graphical) than the original data, are easily computed and used in multivariate and other functional analytic methods. The analyst using S+FDA can handle irregularly spaced data or data with missing values. For large amounts of data, working with a functional representation can save storage. Moreover, S+FDA provides a variety of analytic techniques for functional data including linear models, generalized linear models, principal components, canonical correlation, principal differential analysis, and clustering. This book can be considered a companion to two other highly acclaimed books involving James Ramsay and Bernard Silverman: Functional Data Analysis, Second Edition (2005) and Applied Functional Data Analysis (2002). This user's manual also provides the documentation for the S+FDA library for S­Plus. From the reviews:'The book offers an overview of the basics of functional data approaches as well as a weath of information, sample code, and examples about each of these methods in a clear well-presented manner. The book provides a well-written discussion of how and when to use the functions, and it will be a useful and convenient reference for those getting started with functional analyses.'The American Statistician, May 2006, Vol. 60, No. 2

• Includes a new chapter on logistic regression. • Discusses the design and analysis of random trials. • Explores the latest applications of sample size tables. • Contains a new section on binomial distribution.

One of the most challenging issues for clinical trial investigators, sponsors, and regulatory officials is the interpretation of experimental results that are composed of the results of multiple statistical analyses. These analyses may include the effect of therapy on multiple endpoints, the assessment of a subgroup analysis, and the evaluation of a dose-response relationship in complex mixtures. Multiple Analyses in Clinical Trials: Fundamentals for Clinical Investigators is an essentially nonmathematical discussion of the problems posed by the execution of multiple analyses in clinical trials. It concentrates on the rationale for the analyses, the difficulties posed by their interpretation, easily understood solutions, and useful problem sets. This text will help clinical investigators understand multiple analysis procedures and the key issues when designing their own work or reviewing the research of others. This book is written for advanced medical students, clinical investigators at all levels, research groups within the pharmaceutical industry, regulators at the local, state, and federal level, and biostatisticians. Only a basic background in health care and introductory statistics is required. Dr. Lemuel A. Moyé, M.D., Ph.D. is a physician and Professor of Biometry at the University of Texas School of Public Health. He has been Co-Principal Investigator of two multinational clinical trials examining the role of innovative therapy in post myocardial infarction survival (SAVE) and the use of cholesterol reducing agents in post myocardial infarction survival in patients with normal cholesterol levels (CARE). He has authored over one hundred articles in journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, Statistics in Medicine, and Controlled Clinical Trials. From the reviews: From the reviews:'A quick scan of the book indicates that it is not a typical statistics book…You can jumpin almost anywhere and just start reading…I like the book's organization. There is a chapter on clinical trials. Then there are several chapters that explain the situations that arise from the occurrence of multiple analyses. Particular emphasis is given to multiple endpoints, situations where one continues a study to follow up on unanticipated results, and to subgroup analyses, interventions that impact only a fraction of the subjects in a study. The author is equally adept at describing clinical trials for the statistician as at explaining statistics to the clinical investigator. I enjoyed leafing through this book and would certainly enjoy have the opportunity to sit down and read it.'Technometrics, August 2004'Moyé's background as a statistician and MD makes him especially qualified to write this book…The clinical trial examples are a major strength of the book…His medical background and extensive clinical trials experience shine through.'Statistics in Medicine, 2004, 23:3551-3559'The many examples from well known clinical trials are clearly one of the strengths of this book. It is also fascinating to share the author's experience with the FDA where he attended many meetings of Advisory Committees.'Biometrics, December 2005'According to the preface, this book is written for clinical investigators and research groups within the pharmaceutical industry, medical students and regulators. … I admire the eloquency of the author. … The author does a remarkable job …. Without any doubt, the book is a valuable source of ideas for the intended audience. For statisticians it is an interesting source of experimental setups, that are actually used in practice and that consequently are worth while to be studied.'(dr H. W. M. Hendriks, Kwantitatieve Methoden, Issue 72B41, 2005)'The book is entertaining and informative, sufficiently informal to recruit and retain the intended non-statisticalreadership, but sufficiently for