Table 2 |
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Classification of statistical methods (after Emerson and Colditz, 1983) [10] |
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Category |
Brief description |
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No statistical methods or descriptive statistics |
No statistical content, or descriptive statistics only (e.g., percentages, means Standard deviations, standard errors, histograms |
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Contingency tables |
Chi-square tests, Fisher's test, McNemar's test |
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Multiway tables |
Mantel-Haenszel procedure, log-linear models |
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Epidemiological studies |
Relative risk, odds ratio, log odds, measures of association, sensitivity, specificity |
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t-tests |
One-sample, matched pair, and two sample t- tests |
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Pearson correlation |
Classic product-moment correlation |
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Simple linear regression |
Least-squares regression with one predictor and one response variable |
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Multiple regression |
Includes polynomial regression and stepwise regression |
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Analysis of variance |
Analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and F-tests |
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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) |
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Non-parametric tests |
Sign test, Wilcoxon signed ranks test, Mann- Whitney test, Spearman's rho, Kendall's tau, test for trend |
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Life table |
Actuarial life table, Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival |
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Regression for survival |
Includes Cox regression and logistic regression |
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Other survival analysis |
Breslow's Kruskal Wallis, log rank, Cox model for comparing survival |
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Adjustment & standardisation |
Pertains to incidence rates and prevalence rates |
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Sensitivity analysis |
Examines sensitivity of outcome to small changes in assumptions |
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Power |
Loosely defined, includes use of the size of detectable (or useful) difference in determining sample size |
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Transformation |
Use of data transformation (e.g., logs) often in regression |
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Cost-benefit analysis |
The process of combining estimates of cost and health outcomes to compare policy alternatives |
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Other |
Anything not fitting the above headings includes cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and some mathematical modelling |
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Rigby et al. BMC Medical Research Methodology 2004 4:28 doi:10.1186/1471-2288-4-28 |
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