Book Description

This comprehensive critical appraisal tool examines the roles of research in nursing, the processes of qualitative and quantitative research, the application and analysis of nursing research, and evidence-based practice. Interactive learning aids throughout the book, such as research articles, critical thinking challenges, and critiquing criteria, help readers master important material and learn to apply the principles of research to nursing practice. ... Read more

Book Description

Powerful software often comes, unfortunately, with an overwhelming amount of documentation. As a leading statistics software package, SAS is no exception. Its manuals comprise well over 10,000 pages and can intimidate, or at least bewilder, all but the most experienced users.A Handbook of Statistical Analyses using SAS, Second Edition comes to the rescue. Fully revised to reflect SAS Version 8.1, it gives a concise, straightforward description of how to conduct a range of statistical analyses. The authors have updated and expanded every chapter in this new edition, and have incorporated a significant amount of new material. The book now contains more graphical material, more and better data sets within each chapter, more exercises, and more statistical background for each method. Completely new topics include the following:"Data description and simple inference for categorical variables"Generalized linear models "Longitudinal data: Two new chapters discuss simple approaches, graphs, summary measure, and random effect modelsResearcher or student, new user or veteran, you will welcome this self-contained guide to the latest version of SAS. With its clear examples and numerous exercises, A Handbook of Statistical Analyses using SAS, Second Edition is not only a valuable reference, but also forms the basis for introductory courses on either SAS or applied statistics at any level, from undergraduate to professional. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Good If you know your Statistics
This is a good book if you know statistical analysis. Do you know what to use, when and where? If you do, this book is good because if you are going to use SAS for analysis you have got to know your statistics. What good would FORTRAN be if you didn't know Algebra? You need both.

Very readable and practical
This book is very well written. Each topic is presented with an interesting example, including discussion. None of the topics are presented in great depth, so for example, this is not the book to use for learning factor analysis, or cluster analysis, etc. The real strength of the book is that it shows how to do the analysis using SAS in a clear and concise way. I would recommend this book highly for anyone who would like to get started using SAS.

Good overview of implementations and methods
This book is a good overview of how to implement in SAS some of the statistical methods you've probably already read about. I had done a lot of reading on factor analysis and clustering for my dissertation and needed a way to implement these methods in SAS. This book explains each method, then shows how to implement it using SAS. The data sets are from "The Handbook of Small Data Sets", which I got from my local university library. As I am a computer scientist and not a statistician, I found this book very helpful in putting together **the idea** of a particular statistical technique with the actual **implementation** of that technique. I have the first edition of this book also, and the second edition is much improved (especially the chapters on clustering and factor analysis).

statistical applications in SAS explained with examples
Brian Everitt is the author of several very well-written statistical texts. Among them he has written a number that show how to implement statistical analyses usimg statistical software packages. This second edition of "A Handbook of Statistical Analyses using SAS" he has coauthored with Geoff Der.

As a SAS user, I find this book very handy along with other similar texts that I have on the use of SAS. What is particularly good about this book is that it serves as a guide to the use of various SAS procedures and also as an illustration of appropriate statistical approaches to real applications using SAS.

It starts out with a nice introduction to the SAS prrogramming language and its syntax and progresses through simple descriptive statistics to categorical data analysis to regression and analysis of variance and then on to more advanced topics, including survival analysis, logistic regression, generalized linear models,longitudinal data analysis, principle components, factor analysis and cluster analysis. Appendices provide SAS MACROs and SAS solutions to exercises in the text.

What is particularly good about this book, that may set it apart from some of the others, is the expert statistical advice about the implementation and interpretation of results in SAS. They provide excellent scholarly references to the statistical literature to support their advice. As an example, I particularly liked their discussion of Type I and Type III sum of squares in the analysis of variance. They give a clear explanation of what each means and when they are equivalent and when they are different. In addition, they present their own view as to which is the appropriate one to use in given situations and support their view with quotes from other researchers. Opposing positions are also mentioned and referenced. ... Read more

Book Description

Explores how the medical, social, cultural, and economic dimensions associated with digital data networks affect the kinds of healthcare services expected in the future. Presents a framework for the people and professions involved in creating telemedicine and telehealth networks to use in understanding how to work together effectively. DNLM: Telemedicine--organization & administration. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Review of Telemedice and Telehealth by Darkins and CArey
Telemedicine and Telehealth is a timely and useful book. As a Physician and Consultant, Teleheath provides a soup to nuts discussion about the issues relating to telehealth.
The first chapter details basic definitions of the field. The next five chapters deals with the patient, physicans, Healthcare in general, and lastly specific telemedicine services. The authors suggest the formula for telehealth success as improved quality and access to care at a lower cost and without raising professional objestions.
I found the chapters developing the business case for Telemedicine and telehealth services most compelling. These markets are still in their infancy and are still struggling to develop their potential. The authors share with us their strategy for selling Telehealth services (page 157).
Telemedice and Telehealth, also provides a cautionary note. The authors indicate that to date they were not aware of studies demonstrating a viable telehealth model with the current legislation and reimbursement structure. Further issues such as licensure, quality assurance and backup systems remain to be clearly defined.
This book is an excellent read. Concise, articulate and timely. I would recommend this book to any one intersted in Telemedicine or Telehealth.

Comprehensive, useful for novices and specialists
As a software developer and member of the American Telemedicine Association, I found this book to be a very valuable reference. Our company is developing software solutions to allow patients and health care providers easy, secure access to medical information. This book has helped us understand how telemedicine is developing and how it will be used, so that we can see the developing niches for our products. This book provides the larger view of this developing field and gives readers inspiration to enter the exciting field.

Telemedicine and Telehealth is Now!
As a practicing physician with a keen interest in information technologies and their applications in healthcare, I always approach books like this with some bemusement. In turn, I was pleasantly surprised by my delight with this book. To succeed in the charge to bridge the digital divide and to eliminate health disparities, we physicians and managers will have to arm ourselves with timely solutions which are informed by experience and science. Coupled with the practical and the "how to" make "Telemedicine and Telehealth" a valuable resource for anyone interested in creating the future healthcare system. It connects and transcends the important elements and issues rather than just regurgitating the problems we've heard over and over again. If you believe, as I do, that the future of healthcare will be greatly enhanced by the new information technologies, this book helps to put the present and future in perspective. Darkins and Cary absolutely succeed!

The future of health care thru high technology
Review of: Telemedicine and Telehealth by Adam W. Darkins and Margaret A. Cary

This important book begins the necessary critical conversation of defining the fundamental of concepts and terms, as well as those areas of current and future applications, involved in the merging of health care delivery and high technology systems. The authors wisely suggest using the term Telehealth to address the broad range of health applications which high technology, the Internet in particular, can greatly impact.

These concerns are set in the context of both a historical view of health care and society, particularly in the more technologically developed societies of the U.S. Western Europe and Japan, and these societiesÕ current and future trends toward change of lifestyle driven by their adaptation of new technologies. These are vital concerns, both within health care delivery in particular, as well as within the economic and social evolution of these societies in general.

Their book focuses on the patientÕs experience of health care service as facilitated by this new technology rather than being yet another discussion of the fascinating innovations within the technology itself, a very important distinction.

Being physicians themselves, authors Darkins and Cary have professionally grown up through the very cusp of change they are defining for us; they know the pre-high technology delivery of health care and have been witness to, and advocates for, the introduction of high technology to the health care systems in which each have worked, both in the U.S. and England.

Their book is both comprehensive in its discussion of the issues involved as well as being detailed in its coverage of those particulars necessary to see the overall picture clearly.

Because of the timeliness of this merging of high technology and healthcare delivery, one wishes this book could be made more available to a wider reading public through a greater promotional effort by the publisher.

Learn about telemedicine and telehealth
Conceptually, the answer to many of health care's challenges lie in the use of new information technologies. Knowing this is the case and making it happen are two very different entities. This book ably bridges these two entities. The devil, as always, is in the details and the authors deftly elaborate the problems and provide solutions. I recommend this book to practitioners, administrators, managers and policy makers who are energetic and enthusiastic about the future direction of health care. Errol L. Biggs, Ph.D., Director - Programs in Health Administration, University of Colorado ... Read more

Reviews (5)

IT HAS A REFINED ANALYTICAL APPROACH
"Designing Clinical Research: An Epidermiologic Approach" did a thorough analysis of various methodologies, which medical scientists could use in everyday research. It, first of all, outlined all the essential steps (used in epidemiological research), before delving into the analysis of each step. Its information is current and versatile. But, certain important issues like research-funding and statistics received less than expected attention. Despite this flaw, I would still recommend this book to scientists. Its pros did exceed its cons by a mile.

Invaluable book
I bought this book for a course I am taking as part of my fellowship. This book focuses on the concepts of study design and critical aspects of clinical research. To my surprise, what I found was that I have a greater understanding of how to intrepret literature. This is mostly because I'm able to view it from an investigator's point of view. I'm now able to thoroughly dissect a study and identify the weaknesses, etc (without even reading the discussion section). For those who plan on doing clinical research or just practicing evidenced based medicine, this book is a must.

excessively convenience-oriented book
On the whole this book is an excellent work.

But there is some possibility of fostering illusions in many readers' mind that they actually have great power of research in spite of not having good understanding on basic principles such as statistics.

It is not sufficiently equipped for graduate student or researcher above the level.

THIS IS A MUST HAVE
This is an amazing textbook that is a must have for all healthcare workers or anyone involved or wanting to be involved in clinical research. The test is organized and extremely well written. I use it to teach clinical research design to my students, residents, and fellows. Hats off to Hulley et al on a job well done. It was worth the 13 year wait for the 2nd edition.

Research design: A superb guide
This is one of the best books I have read on how to design a research project. It starts with key, but often neglected, issues such as how to choose a well-focussed research question and steps through all the elements of study design, data collection, quality assurance, and basic grant-writing.

A "must-have" that needs a second edition! ... Read more

Book Description

A Practical, Up-To-Date Guide To Modern Methods In The Analysis Of Time To Event Data.
The rapid proliferation of powerful and affordable statistical software packages over the past decade has inspired the development of an array of valuable new methods for analyzing survival time data. Yet there continues to be a paucity of statistical modeling guides geared to the concerns of health-related researchers who study time to event data. This book helps bridge this important gap in the literature.
Applied Survival Analysis is a comprehensive introduction to regression modeling for time to event data used in epidemiological, biostatistical, and other health-related research. Unlike other texts on the subject, it focuses almost exclusively on practical applications rather than mathematical theory and offers clear, accessible presentations of modern modeling techniques supplemented with real-world examples and case studies. While the authors emphasize the proportional hazards model, descriptive methods and parametric models are also considered in some detail. Key topics covered in depth include:
* Variable selection.
* Identification of the scale of continuous covariates.
* The role of interactions in the model.
* Interpretation of a fitted model.
* Assessment of fit and model assumptions.
* Regression diagnostics.
* Recurrent event models, frailty models, and additive models.
* Commercially available statistical software and getting the most out of it.
Applied Survival Analysis is an ideal introduction for graduate students in biostatistics and epidemiology, as well as researchers in health-related fields. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

nice introduction
This book provides a good, clear, concise explanation of Cox's proportional hazards models. For someone seeking a non-mathematical description this is a great guide. The original datasets from the text examples can even be downloaded and you can go through the same process yourself. Because of some mistakes in the text, I would recomend looking at other sources as well.

Great conceptual Introduction to Cox regression analysis
I enjoyed the authors' book on logistic regression analysis in 1989, and this book is just as good, or better, with many extremely practical suggestions on building regression models for survival data. Happily, the authors summarize, compare, and contrast several major texts on survival analysis which have appeared in the past 10 years. For example, they discuss different names used by different authors for score residuals. They present a helpful appendix on the counting process approach to survival analysis, which will make more advanced texts accessible to students; thus, anyone who wants to use survival analysis, at any level, should consult this book, even if he has already studied books by Miller, Lee, Collett, Fleming-Harington,Andersen, et al, etc. An unfortunate drawback to this book is that the first printing contains many careless errors, some of which may affect student learning: for example, the definition of a survival function is misstated. I recommend that you insist on the second or third printing when buying this book, and you will be quite satisfied.

A clear, simple introduction to survival models
Hosmer and Lemeshow have given us a clear, nontechnical introduction to using survival models. The book strikes a good balance between covering the basics and addressing the most recent, state-of-the-art techniques, including repeated events, frailty models, and others. They also do a good job of addressing practical issues, including estimation details and available software. While most of the examples are drawn from medicine and biostatistics, this book could also serve as a useful starting point for social and behavioral scientists interesting in learning the fundamentals of these models, as well as a useful reference for applied researchers.

Excellent Nontechnical Coverage of Survival Analysis
Applied Survival Analysis is an excellent book for someone seeking a non-mathematicial explanation of survival analysis. The book covers the motivation behind the development of survival analysis, estimation of survival curves, the Cox proportionial hazards, and some parametric models. The book also covers the major methods used in variable selection, model building, and diagnostics. Someone with an undergraduate background in statistics and econometrics will understand the book. The book relies on text to discuss the methods and uses mathematical formulas only when absolutely necessary. Numerous examples are used to highlight what the text covers. The math that is used is easily understandable. This book is ideal for someone who needs to learn the tools of survival analysis but not how they were derived. ... Read more

Book Description

"An excellent introduction to using SPSS for data analysis...extremely useful for undergraduate students, and covers a good range of material often not found in competing texts. It provides a self-contained resource itself, with more than simply (detailed and clear) step-by-step descriptions of statistical procedures in SPSS. There is also a wealth of tips and advice, and for each statistical technique a brief, but consistently reliable, explanation is provided." - George Dunbar, University of Warwick

"This book is an excellent addition to the research methods literature. It presents the research process, research strategy and SPSS techniques in manageable steps offering clear advice, useful tips and discussion of relevant issues such as assumptions and effect size...this text is written in an encouraging and supportive style. I believe students will read and learn with this book." - David Cairns, Macquarie University, Australia

The SPSS Survival Manual throws a lifeline to students and researchers grappling with SPSS. Written in a friendly, jargon-free style, it demystifies statistics and data analysis by guiding you through the entire research process and helping you to choose the right statistical technique for your project. From the formulation of research questions, to the design of the study and analysis of data, to reporting the results, Julie Pallant discusses basic and advanced statistical techniques. She outlines each technique clearly, with step-by-step procedures for performing the analysis, a detailed guide to interpreting SPSS output and an example of how to present the results in a report. The user-friendliness of the manual is enhanced by spiral binding which makes it easy to use at a computer. A recommended reading section points the reader towards additional sources of advice. Illustrated with screen grabs, examples of output and tips, and supported by a website (www.openup.co.uk/spss) with sample data and guidelines on report writing, the SPSS Survival Manual can be used by students and researchers at any level alongside any major statistics textbook.
... Read more

Reviews (5)

It Got Me an A on the Midterm
I was behind in class, I was not "getting it" and I was desperate! So I bought all the SPSS books I could find. Pallant's book is the one I used. Everything I needed to know and be able to do was clearly explained. The accompanying online database served as an example, showing me how to enter data. This book will not go on my bookshelf; it will remain on my desk through my dissertation and afterwards.

well named
This book is exactly what it claims to be a "survival manual". It contains step by step instructions and clear explanations of how to use SPSS, how to interpret the results, and selecting appropriate tests. This isn't a statistics primer or a text on research design. This is a book for those who haven't had 5 stats courses & years of using SPSS. If you need help using SPSS to evaluate research data -- get this book. A lifesaver!

book needs a rewrite
Fragmented in approach. Data missing, could not download as instructed from English site. Needs a severe re-write.

Not worth the paper it's printed on.

Over rated - minus 5 on scale of 1-10 (high).

Worth Every Dime and Then Some!
This book is excellent as an assigned complement to course text for statistics courses. It is invaluable not only for navigating SPSS but it is useful for visual learners as a guide to understanding and connecting theory with practice as you move through your coursework.

A must read for SPSS users
Everything you wanted to know about SPSS but were afraid to ask (or you asked and they refused to answer, or simply you didn't know who to ask or where to find it).

This book is fantastic. Better than an Idiot's Guide, this book runs you through the statistical side of a research project. It has a no nonsense approach to the statistical tests that you will perform, and makes suggestions as to which tests are appropriate. Additionally, it runs you through various tests to check for normality of data and how to handle outliers.

SPSS should be ashamed that they have no comparable text to this one written by Pallant. I know - I have purchased many SPSS texts in hopes to actually acquire one that deals with the basics. All fail, and Pallant's text rises high above the others in delivering as it promises. It truly is "a step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS."

This text should be required for any graduate student before they take on their thesis or doctoral research. It goes far in demystifying the process. ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition of the acclaimed step-by-step guide encompasses all aspects of typescript preparation from first to final draft, including efficient use of word processing, electronic database literature services, the Internet, and email. The authors provide sensible advice on inclusive word choices and communication for writers and readers of different first languages. Abundant examples, practical tips, and self-help exercises draw on extensive experience with actual typescripts. In addition, a detailed index and numerous references make information easy to find. Applicable to a variety of scientific writing contexts, Successful Scientific Writing is a powerful tool for improving individual skills, as well as an eminently suitable text for classes or seminars on scientific writing. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Scientific Writing - A difficult task made easier
"Successful Scientific Writing" is a well written, user friendly and sometimes humorous guide to effective scientific writing. Even the wire, lay open binding is user friendly. The text is up to date, well organized and provides guidance on effective use of computers and software in the entire scientific endeavor. Of course the primary strength is in helping the reader through the writing and publication of the scientist's efforts. This concise work would be especially appropriate as a text in scientific writing classes. The exercises provided would be great student assignments. Additionally the exercises are fun and enhance points made in the text. Matthews, et al have given us a guide that is appropriate for advanced writers as well. Virtually every page has gems of wisdom or insights that will enhance the end result of scientific communication. This book may be especially helpful for those that are "stuck" in trying to get started writing or have complete "writers block". After reading and using this book, readers will likely be thankful that the authors have so adeptly conveyed their wisdom and vast experience in helping others to write with greater clarity and brevity.

Good, but could be better
Our lab used this book for a study group on effective scientific writing. We are located in Korea, so with the exception of the instructor and I, all participants were not native speakers of English. As a result, this review is from the viewpoint of foreign students. It is based on chapter reviews written by the members of our lab after finishing the book.

The book is just what it claims to be, a step-by-step approach to writing a scientific manuscript intended for publication. The first chapter helpfully furnishes a checklist (Table 1.3) for preparing a research paper. The chapter is actually a summary of the rest of the book so a reader already in the process of writing can easily find which chapter they wish to skip to via Table 1.3.

In the subsequent chapters, the authors provide good advice accompanied by helpful tables, examples and exercises, although the figure chapter could have used more tips on actually preparing the figures. Examples of poorly prepared and corrected figures would be a useful study aid. One student suggested that the second chapter on computer use was not particularly informative for graduate-level students. Regarding the chapter on grammar (chapter 6), another student pointed out that in some scientific articles, ungrammatical sentences are not corrected in order to effectively deliver the point.

The overall use of informal expressions and phrases seemed intended to make the text livelier for English-speaking students, but was confusing for several participants with English as a second language. We would like to suggest that the authors take their own advice and refrain from using slang and jargon. Several of us liked Appendix 2 and thought it was a good read for those unfamiliar with the practice of journal editors.

Apparently the authors had intended to attract those who had not already submitted a manuscript to read their book, but Successful Scientific Writing contains many helpful pointers for published scientists and journal editors, as well.

Watch what you eat!
Words can hardly express the beauty and cleverness of "Successful Scientific Writing" by Matthews, Bowen and Matthews as a step-by-step guide on how to write scientific reports for publication in English. I am using this book for a course that I teach on scientific writing at the Postgraduate School of Health Sciences at Aarhus University in Denmark, and I find it to be perfect! Before this book was published, there was none that dealt so well and so entertainingly with so many aspects of what it actually takes to prepare a manuscript for publication in a scientific journal. Many young (and old) scientists are good thinkers, but they are often poor writers! Thus, although they may have been able to design and carry out an experiment, they often lack the ability to express what they have done clearly and concisely. This book is for them! The first few chapters provide mainly words of encouragement for getting the writing process underway. There are also remarkable bits of advice, such as the notion of avoiding certan snacks that could derail ones momentum. In my view, the crux of the book appears in chapters 5, 6 and 7 in which extraordinarily lucid and practical instructions and exercises are presented for improving one's ability to write scientifically. There are also tips on how to optimize word-processing so that the manuscript submitted to the editor of a journal is most likely to be accepted for publication. Perhaps some old-timers in Science can do without this book, but they should nevertheless have a copy of it on hand for their students.

well written and worthwhile
it is unfortunate the authors did not review the most recent scientific style and format conventions of the council of biology editors(accepted internationally) that were published in 1994. had they done so, they would not have made a number of the errors that show up scattered about in the text. i use parts of this text , especially the exercises, in a course i teach on scientific writing and have to make the corrections as we go along

A must read for scientists!
This book has greatly improved my writing. It is easy and enjoyable to read and very informative. I highly recommend it for anyone writing a thesis, manuscripts, etc. ... Read more

Book Description

The latest edition of this best-selling biostatistics book is bothcomprehensive and easy to read.It provides a broad andpractical overview of the statistical analysis methods used by researchers tocollect, summarize, analyze, and draw conclusions from biological researchdata. The Fourth Edition can serve as either an introduction to thediscipline for beginning students or a comprehensive procedural referencefor today's practitioners. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

The beginner's viewpoint
Frankly, I am aghast that the publisher calls this book accessible and appropriate for beginners. I purchased it as the required text for an introductory biometry class, and it has contributed very little to my understanding of biostatistical analysis. After chapter 7 (at best), it is simply incomprehensible. The mathematical notation requires far more than a high school algebra background, and the wording is extremely terse. Yes, it does offer real-world examples, and yes, it does offer a large range of statistical tables, and I am sure that it is good reference for people who are already working as statisticians and who have advanced degrees in statistics. However, it is misleading to call Zar a good introductory text - it is completely inappropriate for beginners. It is too concise in a situation where more words would be useful. Sokal and Rohlf 2nd ed. is far better; Fowler et al. also proved helpful.

A Great Desk Reference for Biologists
I have found this book more approachable and user friendly than Sokal and Rohlf. Zar is an excellent desk reference, and has solved a number of statistical problems for me. I reccomend it to anybody who regularly uses statistics in a biological context.

Ultimate Biostat Book
You will not go wrong with this book. It is the best general
biostatistical book in print. You will need to study it for it is not a cook book, but it is well written. An absolute must book.

Concise but not beginner friendly
This book is very concise and very mathemically based. It does a good job at presenting the mathematical models of statistics but it does a lousy job at explaining biostatistics in a conceptual manner. Maybe a great book for those who love mathemical models and notations but definitely not recommended for someone who is trying to understand biostatistics conceptually. If you are a scientist with a weak bacdground in statistics, you may find it a waste of time to try to understand this book.

one of the most popular introductory biostatistics books
This book is popular because it is well written and authoritative. It is written for biologists, medical students and researchers who do not have any prior knowledge of probability or statistics and may have little mathematical training as well. It serves as an introductory text providing many homework exercises. It can also be used as a reference. It is very thorough and covers most of the important topics required for biological problems. The needed probability is introduced when necessary.

There is the usual emphasis on hypothesis testing and regression. Correlation and analysis of variance are also very well covered. Important issues of sample size determination are covered and many solutions are provided in easy to use box descriptions.

As the author points out in the preface, in order to make this text a good reference it is extensive (663 pages of text followed by appendices and a large number of tables). It also includes a wealth of useful reference articles and books. Consequently, there is too much material for a one semester course. The author provides instructors with guidelines for sections to cover in an introductory course.

Notable topics covered in this text that is rarely found in introductory biostatistics books include multivariate methods especially the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)and inference for circular data.

Recent developments in meta analysis, Bayesian statistics and bootstrap methods are not covered. In fact, these topics are not covered at all. Also, the important topic of missing data is omitted. Outliers are only covered briefly and just a few references are given but the major references, the texts by Hawkins and the treatise of Barnett and Lewis are neglected.

I am currently working on an elementary text that will have the advantage of some real world applications and modern developments. There are a few other elementary statistical texts for biology that are worth considering including Motulsky's "Intuitive Biostatistics" and Riffenburgh's "Statistics in Medicine". My favorite is the slightly more advanced "Practical Statistics for Medical Research" by Doug Altman. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Early in 1998, New York Times science reporter and author Gina Kolata happened to be seated at a banquet next to the Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson. When Kolata asked Watson what was new in the world of science, he replied, "Judah Folkman and angiogenesis, that's what's new. Judah is going to cure cancer in two years."

Folkman, a longtime physician and medical researcher at Harvard University and Children's Hospital, was caught off guard by the excited news reports that followed Watson's remark, but there was good reason for excitement. For nearly four decades, when not busy doing such things as inventing the heart pacemaker and attending to hundreds of patients, Folkman had been puzzling out a peculiarity of tumors: at some point during their formation, they sent forth chemical signals that in effect "recruited" blood vessels to feed them. If those signals could be intercepted through well-targeted drugs, Folkman reasoned, and the blood supply to cancerous formations thus interrupted, then the tumors themselves might be starved to death, or at least to dormancy.

In this book, Newsday writer Robert Cooke offers an accessible account of Folkman's work on angiogenesis, or the formation of blood vessels, which may well point the way to new treatments for cancer and related illnesses. Following Folkman's roundabout trail, one marked by considerable resistance on the part of doubtful colleagues, readers will gain a sense of how medical research is conducted--and, almost certainly, a sense of wonder at the medical breakthroughs that, as James Watson hinted, are just around the corner. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A Modern Odyssey of Medical Innovation
This book clearly deserves many more than five stars.

Dr. Folkman's War contains many valuable insights including how to: Raise children to be outstanding people; be an astute observer about nature to unlock new lessons; pioneer in a new field of science; and be persistent about something important. When the history of medicine in the twentieth century is written, Dr. Judah Folkman will be considered one of the most important figures. This book is the most accessible and complete source of information about his remarkable life and accomplishments.

Dr. Folkman's research to date "has found applications in twenty-six diseases as varied as cancer, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, psoriasis, arthritis, and endometriosis." "Ordinarily, researchers working in any of these fields do not communicate with each other."

Angiogenesis looks at the way that capillaries are formed in response to the body's biochemistry to help and harm health. Tumors depend on this action to get the blood supply they need to grow. Wounds also rely on a similar mechanism to grow scar tissue.

I have been following Dr. Folkman's career for over twenty-five years, and heard him speak about angiogenesis just a little over two years ago. Because I felt I was well-informed, I almost skipped this book. That would have been a major mistake on my part. Dr. Folkman's War contained much new and interesting information that helped me to better understand the lessons of Dr. Folkman's life, as well as the future implications of angiogenesis.

Unknown to me, Dr. Folkman had also played a role as an innovator in implantable pacemakers, time-released drug implants, and specialized types of heart surgery before he began his serious assault on angiogenesis.

The discoveries had their beginning in 1961 when he was a draftee in a Navy lab in Bethesda, Maryland. He noticed that tumors could not grow unless they first recruited their own capillaries to bring an increased blood supply. "Over time, he convinced himself that there had to be some way to block the growth of those blood vessels." He was right, but it took a long time before he knew any of the answers.

In brief opening comments about the book, former surgeon general C. Everett Koop, M.D. and Sc.D. observed how this new science evolved. "In the 1970s, laboratory scientists didn't believe any of it." " . . . [T]he critics' objections were hushed for good in 1989." "In the 1990s, the criticisms came chiefly from the clinical side, and the pharmaceutical companies didn't want anything to do with angiogenesis."

The story is a very heart-warming one. Dr. Folkman's father was a rabbi who asked each member of the family each night what she or he had learned that day. He also constantly implored his son to "Be a credit to your people." His father clearly thought that Dr. Folkman would also become a rabbi. Having announced his attention to become a physician, his father told him, "You can be a rabbi-like doctor." This injunction was one he took to heart, often seeking out his father's counsel on how to console the families of his patients.

His first taste of how close mortality is to all of us was when his first two children inherited cystic fibrosis. The younger of the two died, and the older one needed lots of special care to deal with infections. This probably made him a better doctor, by helping him see things more from the patients' points of view.

Space constraints keep me from discussing the book's description of how angiogenesis developed, but if you like stories about trail-blazing research, you will be amply rewarded. The key hurdles are described, along with the blind alleys that were followed. Anyone reading this will see how important it is to add new skills to the study of any new subject.

I was particularly interested in the way that press reports tended to harm the progress of angiogenesis, either by annoying other scientists, attracting hucksters, or delaying key deals with potential partners. We often think about freedom of speech being helpful, but here the case is a mixed one.

My only disappointment with the book is that it does not provide as much clinical data about the drugs under testing now as has been made public. That material would have made for fascinating reading. There are also natural substances that can cause a tumor to shrink, and clinical studies have been very successful in growing and shrinking tumors for some time.

I suspect that some member of your family will live a longer, healthier life due to future treatments soon to be available using angiogenesis. This book is a great way to learn more about the subject now, so you can encourage exploration of these experimental therapies where possibly appropriate. If anyone in your family now has cancer, this book is must reading for you!

Dr. Folkman summarized the book nicely as follows: "Success can often arrive dressed as failure." "If your idea succeeds everybody says you're persistent. If it doesn't succceed, you're stubborn."

May we all live longer and healthier lives due to the emerging medical treatments using angiogenesis . . . that were helped by Dr. Folkman's persistence!

Persistence & vision overcomes dogma an ignorance.
Through long, arduous practice, Buddhists believe it is possible to remove the lens of self-interest and dogma to perceive "absolute reality," with "automatic compassion." After reading Robert Cooke's biography one believes that Dr. Judah Folkman has never looked at medicine any other way.

But the emperors of the scientific establishment have never dealt kindly with the boys who can't see their robes, as Cooke points out with several examples. (The Hungarian doctor who demonstrated that deaths from childbirth fever could be eliminated if doctors washed their hands was hounded by his colleages to suicide.) Dr. Folkman's heresy was the observation that tumors can't grow without stimulating healthy tissues to supply new blood vessels.

Fortunately for all of us, Dr. Folkman's vision has been matched by his persistence in pursuing it. In following Dr. Folkman's path from his boyhood in Ohio as the son of a rabbi, to Harvard where he gained his self-confidence, to the Navy research lab where his angiogenesis hypothesis first formed, and back to Boston as a pediatric surgeon-scientist, Cooke makes what might have been a difficult and technical story into an epic adventure.

In keeping with the fashion that writing a biography in chronological order is boring and passe, Cooke instead follows parallel thematic threads in Dr. Folkman's storied career. I personally found the resulting forward and backward jumps in time distracting, but not insurmountable.

It would have been enough if this were merely a story of scientific progress and the triumph of a new idea over entrenched dogma, but it is also the story of a man whose vision is matched by his devotion to his patients. It should be required reading for all prospective medical students.

Now angiogenesis-based therapies for cancer, atherosclerosis, blindness and arthritis are on the verge of exploding on the scene and Dr. Folkman's lab at Children's Hospital Boston is ground-zero. He and the generation of doctors and researchers that he has helped to train are revolutionizing huge swaths of medicine. When it happens it will seem like it was overnight, but those of us who have read Robert Cooke's book will know it was a lifetime in the making.

Dr. Folkman is my hero -- a story better than SeaBiscuit!
This book by Robert Cooke is incredible! Mr. Cooke is able to explain to the average layperson the medical concepts of angeiogeneis conceived by the most under-valued person of our time: Dr. Judah Folkman. Dr. Folkman is to cancer what Salk was to Polio! Personally, Dr. Judah Folkman is my hero! A real hero, deserving of the Nobel Prize....and I don't speak lightly. I am a cancer patient that has recently learned that my cancer (thought was beat) has advanced to my lungs. The ONLY therapy for me is in an ANGIOGENESIS drug therapy program for a drug currently in study and labeled as "PI-88." I am just so confident this drug will work. I am the only patient with my type of cancer cell (adenoid cystic carninoma), so I am a little bit more of a lab rat for this program.

God Bless Dr. Folkman and h is incredible perserverance! His story should be a movie----a tale better than SeaBiscuit! He is my SeaBiscuit!

LHH

Cure for cancer?
Chances are someone close to you has succumbed to the ravages of cancer, while you and the medical establishment could only sit by and watch the process reach its inevitable conclusion. The good news is, for nearly 40 years, Dr. Judah Folkman has been pursuing a cure for cancer -- or at least a way to fight tumors more effectively than chemotherapy or radiation -- that only until very recently has garnered serious attention. Dr. Folkman's theory is called angiogenesis, the process by which cancer cells emit an agent which triggers the growth of blood vessels to feed the growth of the cancer itself. For years Dr. Folkman's idea was basically scoffed at as the flailings of an amateur researcher, but Cooke shows how Dr. Folkman has perservered -- while maintaining his brilliant career as a physician -- and eventually, through a slow accumulation of experimental evidence, as well as the discovery of several antiangionesis agents, turned opinion around. Throughout this engaging and fascinating retelling of Folkman's journey, Cooke also provides an eye-opening account of the workings of academia, medical research, and their relationships to those Orwellian biotech companies you keep hearing about. The science is clear and vivid, the battle to defeat cancer inspiring, and the promise of victory -- thankfully, finally -- just around the corner.

interesting story, but ......
I work in this field of research. I do like the story of the persistance and creativity of Judah Folkman. However, the author stumbles in describing some of the science and the intellectual contributions of others that led to some of the Folkman lab's discoveries. After reading the reviewers' praise for Mr. Cooke's "detailed research " on the book's back cover, I was diappointed by some obvious errors in the book. I believe that most of the innaccuracies are the unfortunate result of the author's failure to corroborate all of his facts. He may have been in a hurry to get the book out, but I wish that he had taken a little more time to get the science and other facts straight. ... Read more

Book Description

In the modern age of digital health care, Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) have become a fundamental part of the technological infrastructure supporting the practice of radiology.

This title provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of this blossoming technology. With contributions from leaders in the field of PACS, this user-friendly guide addresses the introductory concepts, computing fundamentals, advanced imaging technologies, and future opportunities. This text is geared towards radiologists, technologists, administrators, and IT professionals wishing to gain a broader understanding of this emerging field. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Useful Book to Learn About PACS
My review of the book is through the perspective of someone who is somewhat knowledgeable about computer technology but quite lacking in my knowledge of PACS, radiology workflow and processes, and imaging technologies.

Quite simply, this book met all of my goals in filling in the gaps in my knowledge. I'm not going to go through the entire book, but I am going to discuss the chapters that I personally found most useful.

FINANCIAL MODELING
Information technology is full of interesting ideas that lack "financial legs". This chapter discussed finances behind a film-based radiology department and a filmless one including techniques for developing a business case for a PACS.

DICOM
This chapter provides a primer on DICOM. Having a stronger background in HL7, I found this chapter useful in unraveling the mystery and secret language used by DICOM professionals. I now understand the business rational and use of each of the DICOM transactions.

WORKFLOW
This chapter described the workflows in a film-based department and how the workflow should change after the proper implementation of a PACS. Workflow is described from the perspective of the patient, the technologist, and the radiologist. I feel comfortable in creating "straw man workflows" after reading this chapter. One of the most interesting things in this chapter was a description of a traditional time and motion study performed on radiologists before the implementation of a PACS and after implementation.

IMAGE ACQUISITION
This chapter familiarized the reader with the modalities that supply the images to the PACS. I learned about each modality, the different technologies for getting images digitized.

OTHER INTERESTING CHAPTERS
The book also had chapters on Computing Fundamentals, Networking Fundamentals, and Storage Technologies that would be excellent for someone needing a primer in those areas.

SUMMARY
Also, the book did good job of covering certain relevant technical details that would appeal to the more technically inclined but would add to my credibility to be able to understand at a superficial level: Imaging Workstation Technologies, Image Compression, Voice Recognition, Teleradiology, Legal Issues, and Utilization Management.

Excellent Read and Reference
I too, as the above customer, bought this book to plan the installation of a PACS in our 150 bed hospital. The experiences of the authors and the depth of coverage was excellent for myself (RT/PACS administrator) and the chief of our department (radiologist) as we planned our PACS system. I learned everything I needed to have an intelligent conversation with the vendors we chose to deal with. Our next task will be voice recognition which the book discusses in detail. Thanks!

A PACS Planner's dream!
We are in the process of installing a system wide PACS system at our 350 bed hospital and this book was a god-sent. Explanations are clear and concise, pertinent for all levels of users. I am a radiologist, but our administrator and PACS (to be) administrator also gained much valuable information from this publication. ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition of a critically-acclaimed text, completely revised and updated, offers practical and comprehensive coverage of the diseases, common problems, and medical care of older persons. Building on the third edition, this revision will present a new approach focusing on Evidence-Based Medicine, with new chapters including: Physiology of Aging, Clinical Strategies of Prescribing for Older Adults, Chronic Disease Management, Prevention, Doctor-Patient Communication Issues, Sources of Suffering in the Elderly, and many others. In addition, there will be a separate chapter on Evidence-Based Geriatrics, as well as sidebars in every chapter, where applicable, on Evidence-Based Medicine. This will be an all-encompassing, authoritative volume on geriatric medicine, needed more than ever because the over-80 population is the fastest growing age group in the country. ... Read more

Book Description

This third edition of the classic "how-to" guide incorporates recent changes in policies and procedures of the NIH, with particular emphasis on the role of the Internet in the research proposal process. Completely revised and updated, it reveals the secrets of success used by seasoned investigators, and directs the reader through the maze of NIH bureaucracies. In addition to providing a detailed overview of the entire review process, the book also includes hundreds of tips on how to enhance proposals, excerpts from real proposals, and extensive Internet references. This book is essential to all scientists involved in the grant writing process.

Key Features:
* Considers the reviewer's perspective
* Detailed presentation of the review process
* All sections of the R01 proposal are reviewed
* Hundreds of tips to enhance proposals
* Includes the many recent changes in NIH policies
* Includes many excerpts from real proposals
* Provides extensive Internet references

Benefits:
* Increased competitiveness
* Better priority scores
* Less chance of triage
* Increased award rates
* Uses the system to advantage
* Reveals strategies used by the "old pros" ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Excellent self-tutorial
The book is based upon biostatistics courses taught by the authors. It is designed to be used as a self-tutorial if so desired. The explainations and examples are excellent.

additional comments on second edition
I have previously reviewed this book. My review pertains to the second edition as that is the only edition I have.

Recently I did some consulting for a colleague. He had some data that he wanted to test for the presence of a single outlier. I referred him to the procedures due to Grubbs and Dixon. I also mention the book by Barnett and Lewis which has the most detailed account of outlier methods. However, Barnett and Lewis is so detailed that it can be overwhelming for a beginner. Fortunately my friend has a copy of Sokal and Rohlf's book. I believe he has the same second edition that I have. They provide a good elementary treatment of these methods and have tables to use. Unfortunately, I discovered that the tables are in a separate supplement. My colleague has the supplement but I don't. The reader should be aware that the supplement is needed to implement some of the procedures in the book that require tables. It is not expensive but it is essential. I imagine that the same is true for the third edition but I am not sure. Regardless this is an excellent refer for biostatisticians and practitioners including regulatory affairs analysts and medical writers.

nice reference for users of biostatistics
This book has served well as a reference source on biostatistical methods for statisticians and non-statisticians alike. It includes many of the important topics. It provides detailed descriptions of regression, correlation and analysis of variance. It emphasizes the required assumptions. It is written at an introductory level. It also covers aspects of biological data and special topics such as "combining probabilities' (i.e. meta-analysis), randomization tests (i.e. permutation methods such as Fisher's exact test), and the jackknife.

Important topics that are not included are survival analysis, sample size determination and Bayesian methods.

Excellent basic text of statistical methods
This book and BIOSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS by Jerrold Zar are my main "go to" books when I have questions about statistical methods, applications, or interpretation.

Zar's book is probably the more understandable primer text on statistics of the two, but BIOMETRY is better at addressing non-parametrics, though it is certainly not a comprehensive treatment of that field of statistical analysis.

I typically go to Zar first, then to Sokal and Rohlf -- a great one-two combination that takes care of most of my statistical needs.

I appreciate the inside covers of BIOMETRY, with its summary table that provides a starting place for choosing the most likely statistical tests for a give comination of numbers of samples and numbers of variables in an experiment.

You should be advised that the book BIOMETRY does not contain tables of critical values. You will need to purchase the book STATISTICAL TABLES by Rohlf and Sokal to get them.

All in all, an excellent book on statistical methods.

4.5 to 5 stars...I'll give it 5 stars.

Alan Holyoak

Excellent for developing intuition, but that's about it
I took Biometry as a course at Stony Brook with Rohlf. I think the book does an excellent job at building a conceptual understanding of what different statistical techniques are used for. Coming out of the course (which was essentially Rohlf reading his book to us), one develops an excellent ability to look at an experiment and determine what type of analysis should be done. This is pretty damn important. What the book fails to do is, once you know which test to use, help you analyze your data using popular statistical programs. Other texts (e.g., Tabachnik and Fidel) appreciate that knowing which test to use is only half the battle. Biometry is weak at helping you actually run tests.

One great stength of Biometry is its treatment of non-parametric data. It is by far the best treatment I have seen in an introductory text. I would highly recommend this book to anyone whose data violates assumptions of the typical ANOVA model. ... Read more

Book Description

Statistical ideas have been integral to the development of epidemiology and continue to provide the tools needed to interpret epidemiological studies. Although epidemiologists do not need a highly mathematical background in statistical theory to conduct and interpret such studies, they do need more than an encyclopedia of "recipes."Statistics for Epidemiology achieves just the right balance between the two approaches, building an intuitive understanding of the methods most important to practitioners and the skills to use them effectively. It develops the techniques for analyzing simple risk factors and disease data, with step-by-step extensions that include the use of binary regression. It covers the logistic regression model in detail and contrasts it with the Cox model for time-to-incidence data. The author uses a few simple case studies to guide readers from elementary analyses to more complex regression modeling. Following these examples through several chapters makes it easy to compare the interpretations that emerge from varying approaches.Written by one of the top biostatisticians in the field, Statistics for Epidemiology stands apart in its focus on interpretation and in the depth of understanding it provides. It lays the groundwork that all public health professionals, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians need to successfully design, conduct, and analyze epidemiological studies. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Outstanding
I had a chance to read this book cover to cover. All I can say is "absolutely outstanding", short of calling it a historical masterpiece in the field. Very rarely do I encounter an epidemiology or biostatistic textbook that reads so well. It is optimally reader friendly; the author appears to have such a talent in explaining some most sophisticated epidemiological and statistical concepts in such a simplified language. Yet he does not sacrifice the inclusion of some very advanced epidemiological and statistical concepts. New concepts such as causal graphs and instrumental variables are also included and explained beautifully. I strongly recommend this book to all early to intermediate graduate students majoring in Epidemiology. Established epidemiologists may wish to read this book to refresh and update their knowledge. I hope the author writes more textbooks with the same style. ... Read more

Book Description

Practical Statistics for Medical Research is a problem-based text for medical researchers, medical students, and others in the medical arena who need to use statistics but have no specialized mathematics background. The author draws on twenty years of experience as a consulting medical statistician to provide clear explanations to key statistical concepts, with a firm emphasis on practical aspects of designing and analyzing medical research. The text gives special attention to the presentation and interpretation of results and the many real problems that arise in medical research. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The best book I've found on the topic!
This book was the text for the intro to Biostat class at Columbia University this year. It is lucid, well organized, doesn't bog down in details or equations, and gives a good introductory explanation of the basic statistical methods, their rationale for use, and their various assumptions and shortcomings.

I can't imagine trying to do stats without a copy of this book beside me - I'd be lost. If you're in need of a book to help you understand medical statistics as they are presented in the literature, you should use this book and eschew all others.

Great book for teaching med stats
I have been teaching statistical methods and epidemiology for graduate students in the health area for more than 5 years and this book is a hit. Previously I tried Armitage & Berry and got a lot of resistance from the students. Altman's book is well organized, presents the problems and their solutions in a very intuitive way, and focus on the real problems in the area. Very good for introductory courses. I usually use Kirkwood's Essentials of Medical Statistics in parallel.

excellent intermediate level treatment of biostatistics
This is a very well written and popular text on biostatistics. Altman writes for non-statisticians but the book is best suited for those with at least one prior course in statistics and those who have had mathematics through high school algebra. Emphasis is placed on the important practical problems. Good statistical designs and analyses are emphasized. The pitfalls with many published medical articles are discussed in Chapter 16.

I used this book to teach a 20 lecture course to students (engineers, clinicians and computer scientists) at Pacesetter in 1998 and at Biosense Webster in 1999 (both medical device companies that employed me as senior biostatistician). It was a good refresher course for the CRAs and engineers and it helped to make it easier for me to work with them on their statistical problems.

I have also taught a similar course to undergraduate students in the Health Science Department at Cal State Long Beach. Altman's book is a little too advanced to use as a text for that course but I did use it as a reference and covered material in Chapter 16 at the end of the course. Clear discussion of the medical literature is very important to these students and Altman does a great job!

Very valuable for consultancy
Doglas Altman's book is extremely useful for Statisticians involved in giving consultancy to non-Statisticians. I would almost say that it gives too many secrets away! Practically the whole field of Medical Statistics is covered. There is a specially good section on power calculations for clinical trials; the nomogram and examples should save a lot of time that might otherwise be spent in using formulae. Having said that, there is software around for this sort of calculation. The book contains much valuable advice on real-life advice Statistical issues, and and realistic problems (with answers) are provided for practice. kvery valuable. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Understanding biostatistics without becoming a statistican
As a medical writer and editor at The Cleveland Clinic, Thomas A. Lang found that the lack of clear understanding of statistics by non-statisticians affected the clarity of their writing. Physicians had the same problem while writing up their research papers for publication. Lang perceived a need among medical and science writers to understand just enough of biostatistics to make them better writers and editors without becoming statisticians themselves. He devised workshops that were conducted by the American Medical Writers Association which were enormously successful. The logical next step was to write this book based on the valuable teaching experience and feedback he got at those courses. In other words, this is a book that wasn't written in a vacuum but is the result of a perceived need, and the author's experience in meeting that need. Co-author Michelle Secic has also contributed with her expertise, making it a valuable book for people in this field.

A Review By A Chinese Medical Writer
Book Review of " How to Report Statistics in Medicine"

The book " How to Report Statistics in Medicine" is written by Tom Lang and Michelle Secic in 1997, published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Just as Edward J. Huth wrote in his foreword, " ........... physician who knows nothing about statistical methods expect to find in reports of clinical trials of drugs statistical evidence ................." "Unfortunately, what passed before our eyes as statistical analysis and reporting does not always represent the proper use of statistical methods or the clear and adequate reporting of statistical findings..., and the review system is not always infallible in judging statistical evidence and how it is presented." "Up until now, authors have had available little published guidance in how to report most effectively their statistical data." Under all this circumstances, the book came into being, aiming to bring valuable specific and detailed help to authors who wish to make their papers as statistically convincing as possible. In fact, this book is also written for medical writers and editors, authors reporting basic or clinical research, clinicians, residents, and students in all areas of medicine and health science, including nursing and allied health professionals. The first author of the book, Tom Lang, is Manager of Medical Editing Services at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where he supervises the editing of scientific manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. The second author of the book, Michelle Secic, is the Senior Biostatistician in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she assists researchers in designing, analyzing, and interpreting medical research studies.

Here are some of the strengths and weakness of the book:

1. There are basically 4 major parts in the book: annotated guidelines to for reporting statistical information, guide to statistical terms and tests, an uninitiated, reference list of the guidelines, and 4 useful appendices. The guidelines are presented in very clear and easy-to -find way, marked by different signs and type fonts in alphabetical order. To me, part two is especially useful. Every time I do not know the exact meaning of a specific term in statistics, I can go directly to this part and look at the explanation and get a better idea. For example, the term "intention-to-treat analysis" is right there on page 262.

2. In part 4 of the book, the appendix on " Rules for Presenting Numbers in Text" provides useful information, since numbers are most commonly used in reporting results.

3. Part 1 is the key part of the book, which contains many specific topics on reporting statistics. For example, after looking through Section 6 of Part 1, "Testing for Relationships: Reporting Associations and Correlation Analysis", I know the function of correlation matrix and how to interpret different correlation values, and then check whether the author has come to a positive conclusion or not. The same is true of the knowledge about 95% CI, with which I may help medical researchers come to a more convincing conclusion.

4. This book is very carefully proofread and so far I have not found any typing error.

5. One weakness of the book is, I think, that it would probably be better for the book to come up with some exercises or a separate workbook, providing any one who wants to learn from this book some chances of practice. Here what I mean by exercise is not how to calculate a specific statistical value, and I am referring to the exercises that help readers to think of the correct report of statistics and to what extent they

6. Another minor limitation of the book is that it is too heavy to take as a portable reference book. If it was printed on thinner paper, I would like it even better.

Excellent non-mathematical guide to reporting data!
Since I am not a statistician, but a writer, I have been searching for a basic biostatistical textbook from which I could absorb just enough information to help me understand the statistical design of clinical trials, and to help focus and sharpen my reporting of statistical data. I now have a collection of biostatistical texts-I can open a used bookshop-none of which serve my needs. Although they all begin with a light approach-I should have browsed deeper through them in the bookstore-they soon get lost in deep statistical and mathematical minutia. Now, Lang and Secic, in "How to Report Statistics in Medicine: Annotated Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Reviewers," have achieved what others have not been able to-explain how to report statistical data AND the meaning of statistical tests, etc. They accomplish this without bombastic lectures and without the mathematical nuisances that get in the way of a non-statistician or someone who simply does not care about the derivation of statistical formulae. Th