Math 322
Biostatistics

Professor Wickerhauser

NEWS

R EXAMPLES

LINKS

  • Model midterm examinations from 2005, 2006, and 2007 are available (they will open in a new window).
  • Example R program cochran.R for Cochran's test of a dichotomous variable without replication.
  • Standard C program cochran.c for Cochran's test of a dichotomous variable without replication.
  • R program kendall.w.R to compute Kendall's coefficient of concordance (Kendall's W). Call it using
     kendall.w(tab)
    where tab is a matrix with scores (or ranks) along its rows.
  • In R, use solve(A) to compute the matrix inverse of a matrix A. Use
     A <- matrix( c(1,3,2,4), nrow=2, ncol=2)
    to get a 2x2 matrix with columns (1;3) and (2;4), rows (1,2),(3,4).
  • Function deduct.R to solve HW 1 problem 6.
  • Standard C program deduct2.c for the sequence counting example done in class.
  • Standard C program anova.c for single-factor analysis of variance with unequal replication.
  • Standard C program anova2.c for two-factor analysis of variance with equal replication.
  • Standard C program anova3.c for three-factor analysis of variance with equal replication.
  • Standard C program m2anova2.c for bi-variate two-factor analysis of variance with equal replication.
  • Three-way ANOVA formulas.
  • Three-way ANOVA SAS documentation.
  • Download old free MatLab (for Windows or Linux PCs) from this site.
  • Open-source software R for statistical computing, and its manual.
  • Download R from WUStL's software archive.
  • R program test.R with function "runs.test" to compute the nonparametric runs test for serial randomness. Call it using
     runs.test(x)
    where x is a factor time series with two levels. Source: R project tseries home page

Syllabus

Topics. This is a second course in elementary statistics with applications to life sciences and medicine. It reviews basic statistics using biological and medical examples. New topics include incidence and prevalence, medical diagnosis, sensitivity and specificity, Bayes rule, decision making, maximum likelihood, logistic regression, ROC curves and survival analysis. Each student will be required to perform and write a report on a data analysis project.

Prerequisites. SAS-based section of Math 320 with a grade of B+ or better, or the permission of the instructor.

Time. Classes meet Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10:00 am to 11:00 am, in Earth & Planetary Sciences, Room 203.

Text. The lectures will follow Biostatistical Analysis, fourth edition, by Jerrold Zar, ISBN 013081542X, Prentice Hall, 1999.

Supplementary reading:

Homework. You are encouraged to collaborate on homework and to work additional exercises from the indicated problem sections, although the homework grade will be based only on the exercises listed below. Please return your solutions to the instructor by the end of class. Problem sets will be assigned as follows:
Solutions are due at the end of class on the due date. Late homework will not be accepted.

Tests. There will be one midterm examination (model solutions) in class on Friday, February 22nd, 2008. There will be one cumulative take-home final examination (with machine-readable data) (Solutions)(R output) emphasizing the remaining material. It is due on Monday, May 5th, 2008, at 3:00 pm, in Cupples I, room 100 (the Mathematics Department office).

Project. There will be one data analysis project due at 3:00 pm on Friday, May 2nd, 2008. Late projects will not be accepted. Projects may be selected from this list, or chosen by the student with the prior approval of the instructor.

Grading. One score will be assigned for homework, one for the midterm examination, one for the final examination, and one for the term project. These four will contribute in respective shares of 40%, 20%, 20%, and 20% to the course score. Letter grades, computed from the course score, will be at least the following:

Course score at least:90%80%70%60%
Letter grade at least:ABCD

Students taking the Cr/NCr or P/F options will need a grade of D or better to pass.

Computing. Students are encouraged to use SAS and the computers available in the Arts and Sciences Computing Center for both symbolic and numerical computations.

Office Hours. Mondays and Fridays 4-5pm, or by appointment.

Questions? Return to M. Victor Wickerhauser's home page for contact information.