Cheat sheets for analysts - pocket guides for epidemiological and statistical basics

New reference tool available!

We have been busy this winter pulling together some additional resources for you. With the prodding of Jazz Bhatti (Pediatric Research Now Project Coordinator), a bunch of us have developed cheat sheets for you to keep at your desk, or in your work bags. Our first cheat sheet release covers material that should be familiar to many of you.

Side 1 covers basic epidemiological concepts, risk and exposure computations clinicians need to have at their fingertips. Most of concepts have NOT been covered on The Why Axis before, but they are often covered in medical school and in public health programs.

• Risk metrics: The cheat sheet defines and provides formulas for computing odds and risk metrics that can be used in clinical and in public health situations.
• Precision of metrics: The cheat sheet defines and provides formulas for computing sensitivity, specificity, and other metrics that helps determine how precise a screening or test result is likely to be.

Side 2 covers basic statistical concepts, including many topics that have had lots of play on The Why Axis. These include:

• Central tendency and variation – What the main metrics are and how they are used. See How studying statistics guarantees a happy life, The first half of the whole: Central tendency, and The second half of the whole: Measuring difference.
• Levels of measurement – This section covers the types of variables used in statistics and which types of statistics you can use on each type. Please see The thing of it all – on fields, variables, and counting things for more information.
• Choosing statistical tests – This section helps you choose the right bivariate test for your data. For more information on confidence intervals and standard errors, see Telling the difference: Confidence intervals and Which test when: Basic stats you can use in Excel.

We hope you will find this cheat sheet useful! We have several more in the works. Let us know if there are topics you would like to see covered.