Statistics for Health Data Science: An Organic Approach

Students and researchers in the health sciences have greater opportunity and challenge due to the explosion in publicly available data. This textbook aims to equip them with the most important elements of a modern health analytics toolkit, drawing from the fields of statistics, health econometrics, and data science. It is designed to overcome students' anxiety about data and statistics and to help them become confident users of appropriate analytic methods for health care research studies. Methods are presented organically, with new material building naturally on what has come before, and accompanied by engaging explanations and examples. The textbook is designed to cultivate health services researchers who are thoughtful and well-informed about health data science, rather than data analysts.

Format: Hardback
Length: 222 pages
Publication date: 05 January 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Students and researchers in the health sciences are facing greater opportunity and challenge than ever before. The opportunity stems from the explosion in publicly available data that simultaneously informs and inspires new avenues of investigation. The challenge is that the analytic tools required go far beyond the standard methods and models of basic statistics. This textbook aims to equip health care researchers with the most important elements of a modern health analytics toolkit, drawing from the fields of statistics, health econometrics, and data science. This textbook is designed to overcome students' anxiety about data and statistics and to help them become confident users of appropriate analytic methods for health care research studies. Methods are presented organically, with new material building naturally on what has come before. Each technique is motivated by a topical research question, explained in non-technical terms, and accompanied by engaging explanations and examples. In this way, the authors cultivate a deep (“organic”) understanding of a range of analytic techniques, their assumptions and data requirements, and their advantages and limitations. They illustrate all lessons via analyses of real data from a variety of publicly available databases, addressing relevant research questions and comparing findings to those of published studies. Ultimately, this textbook is designed to cultivate health services researchers that are thoughtful and well-informed about health data science, rather than data analysts.

This textbook differs from the competition in its unique blend of methods and its determination to ensure that readers gain an understanding of how, when, and why to apply them. It provides the public health researcher with a way to think analytically about health data, rather than simply collecting and analyzing data.

The textbook is organized into four main sections:

Introduction to Health Analytics: This section provides an overview of the field of health analytics and its importance in modern health care research. It introduces the basic concepts and techniques of health analytics, including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and regression analysis.

Data Sources. This section covers the basics of data collection, management, and analysis in health care research. It discusses the importance of data quality, data integrity, and data security in health care research. It also covers the different types of data sources available in health care research, including administrative data, clinical data, and survey data.

Analytic Methods. This section covers a range of analytic methods used in health care research, including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and regression analysis. It discusses the assumptions and limitations of each method and provides examples of how to apply them in health care research studies.

Case Studies. This section provides case studies of real-world health care research studies that illustrate the application of analytic methods in health care research. It discusses the research questions, data sources, analytic methods, and findings of each study and provides insights into the strengths and limitations of each method.

In conclusion, this textbook
textbook is an essential resource for students and researchers in the health sciences. It provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the field of health analytics, covering the basic concepts and techniques of health analytics, data collection, management, and analysis, analytic methods, and case studies. It is designed to help students and researchers gain an understanding of how, when, and why to apply analytic methods in health care research studies, and to cultivate health services researchers that are thoughtful and well-informed about health data science.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 161 x 241 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030598884
Edition number: 1st ed. 2020