Biostatistics and Data Types: Key Concepts for Biology and Health

Biostatistics

using statistics to study biology, medicine, and health data

Statistics

scientific study of numerical data and how it is governed by natural phenomenon like randomness. Based on probability.

Biometrics

measuring biological data or characteristics

Population

the entire group being studied

Parameter

a value that describes a population

Sample

a smaller group taken from a population

Bias

anything that unfairly affects results or causes inaccurate conclusions

Quantitative

numerical data that can be measured or counted

Discrete

quantitative data with separate countable values (ex: number of eggs)

Continuous

quantitative data that can have any value within a range (ex: height, temperature)

Categorical

data placed into groups or categories

Rank

data arranged in order from highest to lowest

Binomial data (dichotomous)

data with only two possible outcomes (yes/no, alive/dead)

Nominal data

categories with no specific order (ex: eye color)

Ordinal data

categories with a meaningful order (ex: freshman → senior)

Independent variable

the variable the researcher changes or controls; goes on the X-axis

Dependent variable

the variable being measured or affected; goes on the Y-axis