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Rating: 
Summary: Understanding biostatistics without becoming a statistican
Review: As a medical writer and editor at The Cleveland Clinic, Thomas A. Lang found that the lack of clear understanding of statistics by non-statisticians affected the clarity of their writing. Physicians had the same problem while writing up their research papers for publication. Lang perceived a need among medical and science writers to understand just enough of biostatistics to make them better writers and editors without becoming statisticians themselves. He devised workshops that were conducted by the American Medical Writers Association which were enormously successful. The logical next step was to write this book based on the valuable teaching experience and feedback he got at those courses. In other words, this is a book that wasn't written in a vacuum but is the result of a perceived need, and the author's experience in meeting that need. Co-author Michelle Secic has also contributed with her expertise, making it a valuable book for people in this field.
Rating: 
Summary: A Review By A Chinese Medical Writer
Review: Book Review of " How to Report Statistics in Medicine" The book " How to Report Statistics in Medicine" is written by Tom Lang and Michelle Secic in 1997, published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Just as Edward J. Huth wrote in his foreword, " ........... physician who knows nothing about statistical methods expect to find in reports of clinical trials of drugs statistical evidence ................." "Unfortunately, what passed before our eyes as statistical analysis and reporting does not always represent the proper use of statistical methods or the clear and adequate reporting of statistical findings..., and the review system is not always infallible in judging statistical evidence and how it is presented." "Up until now, authors have had available little published guidance in how to report most effectively their statistical data." Under all this circumstances, the book came into being, aiming to bring valuable specific and detailed help to authors who wish to make their papers as statistically convincing as possible. In fact, this book is also written for medical writers and editors, authors reporting basic or clinical research, clinicians, residents, and students in all areas of medicine and health science, including nursing and allied health professionals. The first author of the book, Tom Lang, is Manager of Medical Editing Services at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where he supervises the editing of scientific manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. The second author of the book, Michelle Secic, is the Senior Biostatistician in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she assists researchers in designing, analyzing, and interpreting medical research studies. Here are some of the strengths and weakness of the book: 1. There are basically 4 major parts in the book: annotated guidelines to for reporting statistical information, guide to statistical terms and tests, an uninitiated, reference list of the guidelines, and 4 useful appendices. The guidelines are presented in very clear and easy-to -find way, marked by different signs and type fonts in alphabetical order. To me, part two is especially useful. Every time I do not know the exact meaning of a specific term in statistics, I can go directly to this part and look at the explanation and get a better idea. For example, the term "intention-to-treat analysis" is right there on page 262. 2. In part 4 of the book, the appendix on " Rules for Presenting Numbers in Text" provides useful information, since numbers are most commonly used in reporting results. 3. Part 1 is the key part of the book, which contains many specific topics on reporting statistics. For example, after looking through Section 6 of Part 1, "Testing for Relationships: Reporting Associations and Correlation Analysis", I know the function of correlation matrix and how to interpret different correlation values, and then check whether the author has come to a positive conclusion or not. The same is true of the knowledge about 95% CI, with which I may help medical researchers come to a more convincing conclusion. 4. This book is very carefully proofread and so far I have not found any typing error. 5. One weakness of the book is, I think, that it would probably be better for the book to come up with some exercises or a separate workbook, providing any one who wants to learn from this book some chances of practice. Here what I mean by exercise is not how to calculate a specific statistical value, and I am referring to the exercises that help readers to think of the correct report of statistics and to what extent they 6. Another minor limitation of the book is that it is too heavy to take as a portable reference book. If it was printed on thinner paper, I would like it even better.
Rating:
Summary: A Review By A Chinese Medical Writer
Review: Book Review of " How to Report Statistics in Medicine" The book " How to Report Statistics in Medicine" is written by Tom Lang and Michelle Secic in 1997, published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Just as Edward J. Huth wrote in his foreword, " ........... physician who knows nothing about statistical methods expect to find in reports of clinical trials of drugs statistical evidence ................." "Unfortunately, what passed before our eyes as statistical analysis and reporting does not always represent the proper use of statistical methods or the clear and adequate reporting of statistical findings..., and the review system is not always infallible in judging statistical evidence and how it is presented." "Up until now, authors have had available little published guidance in how to report most effectively their statistical data." Under all this circumstances, the book came into being, aiming to bring valuable specific and detailed help to authors who wish to make their papers as statistically convincing as possible. In fact, this book is also written for medical writers and editors, authors reporting basic or clinical research, clinicians, residents, and students in all areas of medicine and health science, including nursing and allied health professionals. The first author of the book, Tom Lang, is Manager of Medical Editing Services at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where he supervises the editing of scientific manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. The second author of the book, Michelle Secic, is the Senior Biostatistician in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she assists researchers in designing, analyzing, and interpreting medical research studies. Here are some of the strengths and weakness of the book: 1. There are basically 4 major parts in the book: annotated guidelines to for reporting statistical information, guide to statistical terms and tests, an uninitiated, reference list of the guidelines, and 4 useful appendices. The guidelines are presented in very clear and easy-to -find way, marked by different signs and type fonts in alphabetical order. To me, part two is especially useful. Every time I do not know the exact meaning of a specific term in statistics, I can go directly to this part and look at the explanation and get a better idea. For example, the term "intention-to-treat analysis" is right there on page 262. 2. In part 4 of the book, the appendix on " Rules for Presenting Numbers in Text" provides useful information, since numbers are most commonly used in reporting results. 3. Part 1 is the key part of the book, which contains many specific topics on reporting statistics. For example, after looking through Section 6 of Part 1, "Testing for Relationships: Reporting Associations and Correlation Analysis", I know the function of correlation matrix and how to interpret different correlation values, and then check whether the author has come to a positive conclusion or not. The same is true of the knowledge about 95% CI, with which I may help medical researchers come to a more convincing conclusion. 4. This book is very carefully proofread and so far I have not found any typing error. 5. One weakness of the book is, I think, that it would probably be better for the book to come up with some exercises or a separate workbook, providing any one who wants to learn from this book some chances of practice. Here what I mean by exercise is not how to calculate a specific statistical value, and I am referring to the exercises that help readers to think of the correct report of statistics and to what extent they 6. Another minor limitation of the book is that it is too heavy to take as a portable reference book. If it was printed on thinner paper, I would like it even better.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent non-mathematical guide to reporting data!
Review: Since I am not a statistician, but a writer, I have been searching for a basic biostatistical textbook from which I could absorb just enough information to help me understand the statistical design of clinical trials, and to help focus and sharpen my reporting of statistical data. I now have a collection of biostatistical texts-I can open a used bookshop-none of which serve my needs. Although they all begin with a light approach-I should have browsed deeper through them in the bookstore-they soon get lost in deep statistical and mathematical minutia. Now, Lang and Secic, in "How to Report Statistics in Medicine: Annotated Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Reviewers," have achieved what others have not been able to-explain how to report statistical data AND the meaning of statistical tests, etc. They accomplish this without bombastic lectures and without the mathematical nuisances that get in the way of a non-statistician or someone who simply does not care about the derivation of statistical formulae. This will be my medical writing bible for years to come. My only complaint is that it should have been sold in hardcover-it will soon wear-out from all the use!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent non-mathematical guide to reporting data!
Review: The conclusion to a review published in the March 1998 issue of the Journal of the American Statistical Association, one of the most influential statistics journals in the world: "Lang and Secic do a masterly job of taking a subject that intimidates (and terrorizes, to some extent) many people and sweetening it so that it is palatable. This book should be on every medical writer's and editor's desk (and many authors would benefit by it, too) to be read from cover to cover and used as a reference. I also recommend that it be used as a text for journalism students and science writers, or by anyone who does not plan to become a statistician yet needs to be able to interpret and report statistics. My thanks to the authors for producing an outstanding guide ... They have performed a public service for us, for the general public, and for science." Nadine W. Martin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Rating:
Summary: Every science editor should own this book
Review: This book should be on every science editor's desk. It has proven to be a valuable resource. I had not been able to find an easy-to-use, relevant statistics guide before this appeared, and I am very grateful for its existence
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