Main description:

Provides a concise and intuitive overview of the role of statistics in surgical practice.
Uses no mathematics but includes narrative descriptions of statistical concepts.
Includes topics of specific interest to surgeons.
Provides real surgical examples to illustrate applications.

Contents:

1 Introduction - Why Does a Surgeon Need Statistics?

2 Interpreting Probability: Medical School Axioms of Probability

3 Statistics, the Law of Large Numbers, and the Confidence Interval

4 The Basics of Statistical Tests

5 How Much Data Is Enough?

6 Showing the Data to Yourself First - Graphs and Tables, Part 1

7 How Normal Is a Gaussian Distribution? What to Do with Extreme Values?

8 All Probabilities Are Conditional

9 Quality versus Quantity in Data

10 Practical Examples

11 All Things Being Equal - But How? (Designing the Study)

12 Binary and Count Outcomes

13 Repeated Measurements and Accounting for Change

14 What If the Data Is Not All There?

15 Showing the Data to Others - Graphs and Tables, Part 2

16 Further Reading

GLOSSARY

REFERENCES

INDEX