How to use this website for the computer practical sessions
Aims
This website aims to provide you with sufficient information to effectively complete all the tasks and exercises for each computer practical session, which are intended to help you learn some useful and powerful data analysis skills. Specifically, we aim to help you learn some key skills for carrying out common approaches to sampling data, preparing data for analysis, analysing data, and interpreting the results of your analyses.
We do try to limit the information presented to just the most critical content given this is an introductory module, and we usually hide more in-depth or optional content via Read/hide buttons, which you can then choose whether to read at all or later. Therefore, if you wish to progress your quantitative research skills after covering this content please see Minerva for recommended further resources.
Website structure & computer practical sessions
Each computer practical session covers one or more related topics covered in a previous lecture, and there is one or more corresponding sections on the website for you to work through in the session. For example, in this first computer practical session we will be working through sub-section 2.1. Probability sampling within section 2. Sampling & sample size. We will tell you at the start of each session which section(s) or sub-sections you are expected to work through. You can see all the sections listed on the left of the website, and you can use those links to move between sections.
Each section is designed to provide you with some background information on one or more specific methods within the broader topic covered in that section, such as the rationale for the approaches and some basic theory, followed by one or more exercises that relate to a hypothetical “scenario” where you get to apply the method(s). The idea is that you will hopefully be able to work through each section of the website on your own or with other students (we encourage discussion and helping each other!). However, please ask us for help with any problems, and please ask us for help in understanding and clarifying anything.
Each scenario is a hypothetical (made-up) situation that describes a realistic example of a situation where you might need to use the method(s) covered (e.g. you need to select a sample of health facilities for a survey). For each scenario we provide some artificial but realistic data. You are then provided with detailed instructions on how to apply the method(s) to the example data. Where more than one specific method is covered these will be listed as “Exercise 1: …” etc.
Note: once you are in a section you can navigate between the background information, the scenario, instructions on the method etc using the sub-menu that will appear on the right side of the website. We provide step-by-step video-based and text-based instructions on how to carry out each method using the relevant software program. The video- and text-based instructions are identical, so you can choose whether to watch a video or read instructions to understand how to do everything you need to do.
Note: with the text-based instructions we refer to the names of menus, tools, buttons etc as they appear or are named in the different pieces of software using highlighted text like this.
How these sessions relate to the summative assignment
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MSc Statistics for Health Sciences students have to complete a “summative assignment”, which accounts for 100% of your module mark. This assignment will require you to directly apply the skills you learn in these sessions. Please note that when analysing data for the summative assignment we only expect you to use methods that we will cover in these sessions. For further details please see the module handbook.
A realistic word of encouragement (If you want/need it!)
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Students often find learning and doing statistics to be hard, sometimes very hard! Unfortunately this is to be expected and there are no short-cuts or secrets. Unless you are a genius then like most people, including ourselves, to really begin to understand statistics more deeply and to be able to confidently and correctly analyse typical datasets independently will take a lot of time and effort. However, we firmly believe that it is perfectly possible for any motivated student to get to any level of skill and understanding they wish to reach if they are simply prepared to put in the necessary effort and practice, and the rewards can be huge. Being able to correctly run and interpret even simple statistical analyses gives you skills that are highly valuable in the world of research, and which are increasingly valuable and sought after in the wider world. So please don’t despair when things seem difficult or impossible. We’ve all felt that way, but like any new skill it really does gets easier and easier with practice, and it can even be enjoyable (no really, being able to take a dataset and generate insights about the world can be a really exciting and enjoyable process!).