Statistical Analysis of Clinical Data on a Pocket Calculator

Abstract

The฀ time฀ that฀ statistical฀ analyses,฀ including฀ analysis฀ of฀ variance฀ and฀ regression฀ analyses,฀were฀analyzed฀by฀statistical฀laboratory฀workers,฀has฀gone฀for฀good,฀thanks฀ to฀the฀availability฀of฀user-friendly฀statistical฀software.฀The฀teaching฀department,฀the฀ educations฀ committee,฀ and฀ the฀ scientific฀ committee฀ of฀ the฀ Albert฀ Schweitzer฀ Hospital,฀ Dordrecht,฀ Netherlands,฀ are฀ pleased฀ to฀ announce฀ that฀ since฀ November฀ 2009฀the฀entire฀staff฀and฀personal฀is฀able฀to฀perform฀statistical฀analyses฀with฀help฀ of฀SPSS฀Statistical฀Software฀in฀their฀offices฀through฀the฀institution’s฀intranet. It฀ is฀ our฀ experience฀ as฀ masters’฀ and฀ doctorate฀ class฀ teachers฀ of฀ the฀ European฀ College฀of฀Pharmaceutical฀Medicine฀(EC฀Socrates฀Project)฀that฀students฀are฀eager฀ to฀ master฀ adequate฀ command฀ of฀ statistical฀ software฀ for฀ carrying฀ out฀ their฀ own฀ statistical฀ analyses.฀ However,฀ students฀ often฀ lack฀ adequate฀ knowledge฀ of฀ basic฀ principles,฀and฀this฀carries฀the฀risk฀of฀fallacies.฀Computers฀cannot฀think,฀and฀can฀ only฀ execute฀ commands฀ as฀ given.฀ As฀ an฀ example,฀ regression฀ analysis฀ usually฀ applies฀independent฀and฀dependent฀variables,฀often฀interprets฀as฀causal฀factors฀and฀ outcome฀factors.฀E.g.,฀gender฀and฀age฀may฀determine฀the฀type฀of฀operation฀or฀the฀ type฀of฀surgeon.฀The฀type฀of฀surgeon฀does฀not฀determine฀the฀age฀and฀gender.฀Yet,฀ software฀programs฀have฀no฀difficulty฀to฀use฀nonsense฀determinants,฀and฀the฀inves- tigator฀in฀charge฀of฀the฀analysis฀has฀to฀decide฀what฀is฀caused฀by฀what,฀because฀a฀ computer฀can฀not฀do฀a฀thing฀like฀that,฀although฀it฀is฀essential฀to฀the฀analysis. It฀is฀our฀experience฀that฀a฀pocket฀calculator฀is฀very฀helpful฀for฀the฀purpose฀of฀ studying฀ the฀ basic฀ principles.฀ Also,฀ a฀ number฀ of฀ statistical฀ methods฀ can฀ be฀ performed฀more฀easily฀on฀a฀pocket฀calculator,฀than฀using฀a฀software฀program.