title: Some basic aspects of statistical methods and sample size determination in health science research.
abstract: A health science researcher may sometimes wonder "why statistical methods are so important in research?" Simple answer is that, statistical methods are used throughout a study that includes planning, designing, collecting data, analyzing and drawing meaningful interpretation and report the findings. Hence, it is important that a researcher knows the concepts of at least basic statistical methods used at various stages of a research study. This helps the researcher in the conduct of an appropriately well-designed study leading to valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the population. A well-designed study possesses fewer biases, which intern gives precise, valid and reliable results. There are many statistical methods and tests that are used at various stages of a research. In this communication, we discuss the overall importance of statistical considerations in medical research with the main emphasis on estimating minimum sample size for different study objectives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Binu
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Shreemathi S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Mayya
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Policies and Programmes, International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Murali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dhar
keywords: Applications; health-sciences-research; sample-size; statistics