1. Nova Southeastern University
HPH 7300—CRN 35894
BIOSTATISTICS I
Winter 2010
SYLLABUS
I. DESCRIPTION: First of a two-course sequence focusing on inferential statistics
for students interested in understanding quantitative research in
the health sciences. It is designed to enable students to apply
experimental-design models toward solving practical problems
and improving the efficiency of formulating and providing
healthcare services.
II. GOAL: Educate students to generate, interpret, and evaluate clinical,
biomedical, and healthcare-services research.
III. PREREQUISITE: Introductory-level statistics course.
IV. OBJECTIVES: After successful completion, students will be able to:
1. match empirical research questions to statistical methods.
2. apply hypothesis-testing models to experimental and
quasi-experimental research questions.
3. use appropriate probability distributions, including z, t,
and F.
4. estimate parameters with adequate confidence intervals.
5. test hypotheses using a wide variety of statistical models.
6. use different versions of analysis of variance as applied to
the health sciences.
V. INSTRUCTOR: Sarah Ransdell, PhD
Office Tel. (954)262-1208, (800)356-0026, ext. 21208.
e-mail: ransdell@nova.edu If you want to talk by phone,
set this up first by email. I will be online at least once every 6-
10 hours, especially around assignment due dates.
VI. MEETINGS: Presentation and discussion of course material will be held
within WebCT. Students are responsible for all posted
materials. Discussion is to everyone, email is one to one, use
discretion. There will also be Tegrity video recordings and a
posting when they are available.
1. Course material presentations will focus on purpose,
nature, composition, and application of different statistical
models.
2. Homework will be devoted to working out statistical
problems using SPSS, your textbook, and your other
course materials.
VII. HOMEWORK: Six problem sets will be assigned. They are due about one
week later, see syllabus schedule. In addition, students will be
expected to complete textbook and course material reading
prior to homework submission.
VIII. CREDIT: Three credit hours.

2. IX. TEXTBOOK and SOFTWARE: Wayne W. Daniel, Biostatistics: A Foundation
for Analysis in the Health Sciences, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 9th edition,
2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-10581-8. You will also need access to SPSS 17.0 for Win or
Mac. Please order these ASAP so that you have it for the first week. You may also purchase
Green and Salkind, Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh, 5th edition (NJ: Pearson), ISBN:
9780131890251.
X. POLICIES: 1.
Policies related to attendance, civility, and grades will be
in accord with HPD student policies, see Student Manual.
2. A grade of incomplete is available at the instructor’s
discretion. Students are expected to remove the
incomplete within two semesters or by the end of the next
semester in which the course is offered again.
3. No credit will be given for assignments that are not sent to
the Assignment dropbox by Sundays at 9pm the week they
are assigned. Each problem set is worth 5 pts.
4. All assignments are cumulative.
5. Academic dishonesty in the form of cheating, plagiarism,
etc. constitute transgressions against the honor code and
may bring penalties ranging from severe reprimand to
recommendation for expulsion from the program,
including failing the entire course or part of it.
XI. GRADING: Mid-term exam (15pts) Problem sets (30pts)
Final exam (15pts)
HPD Numeric Grading – Equivalent Alpha Grade
90 – 100% of out 60pts A
80 – 89 B
00 – 79 F
XII. SCHEDULE:
Week Date Weekly Topic Assignment
begins Reading
(8th ed.)
(9th ed.)
1 1/4 1/all Course organization / WebCT / Tegrity/ SPSS WebCT
2/15-34 Statistics in perspective tutorial,
3/all Probability load SPSS
2/19-37
2 1/11 2/35-51 Measures of location or central tendency
2/38-54 Measures of dispersion
Relationship between both types of measures
3 1/19 4/all Normal vs. skewed distributions Problem Set
4/93-134 The z distribution 1 Due 1/17,
Estimation of percentiles 9pmEastern

3. 4 6/156-186 The t distribution
1/25 7/211-218 Confidence intervals
6/62-189, Hypothesis testing
7/215-222
5 2/1 5/129-140 One-population tests: Means Problem Set
6/196-201 One-population tests: Proportions 2 Due 1/31,
7/218-234 The F distribution 9pmEastern
7/258-260
7/270-278
5/135-146
6/199-203
7/223-237
6 2/8 5/140-152 Two-population tests: Paired observations
7/235-257 Two-population tests: Unpaired observations
7/260-270 Equal-size vs. unequal-size data sets
7/258-201
7/273-280
none
2/15 Mid-term Exam due 2/14, Sunday 9pm Eastern
7
Happy Valentines Day!
Problem Set
8 2/22 8/303-321 Multiple population comparisons
3 Due 2/28
8/305-322 The CRD(Completely Randomized Design) model
9pmE
One-way analysis of variance
9 3/1 8/322-352 Post-hoc tests Problem Set
8/322-353 The RCBD (Randomized Complete Block Design) 4 Due 3/7,
model without replications 9pmE
Two-way analysis of variance (without replicat.)
10 3/8 Comparison of CRD and RCBD models
The RCBD model with replications
Two-way analysis of variance (with replications)
11 3/15 The NHC model
Multiway analysis of variance
Multiple hierarchies of sources of variation
12 3/22 8/352- Factorial experiments Problem Set
368 Analysis of variance for factorial experiments 5 Due 3/28
8/353-36 Integration of ANOVA models 9pmEastern
8

4. 13 3/29 12/593-6 The chi-square distribution
46
12/593-6
48
14 4/5 13/680-7 Non-parametric statistical comparisons Problem Set
29 6 Due 4/11
13/683-7 9pmE
30
15 4/12 Review for Final exam
Final Exam due 4/18 Sunday 9pm Eastern