Statistical and Methodological Aspects of Oral Health Research provides oral health researchers with an overview of the methodological aspects that are important in planning, conducting and analyzing their research projects whilst also providing biostatisticians with an idea of the statistical problems that arise when tackling oral health research questions. This collection presents critical reflections on oral health research and offers advice on practical aspects of setting up research whilst introducing the reader to basic as well as advanced statistical methodology. Features: An introduction to research methodology and an exposition of the state of the art. A variety of examples from oral health research. Contributions from well-known oral health researchers, epidemiologists and biostatisticians, all of whom have rich experience in this area. Recent developments in statistical methodology prompted by a variety of dental applications. Presenting both an introduction to research methodology and an exposition of the latest advances in oral health research, this book will appeal both beginning and experienced oral health researchers as well as biostatisticians and epidemiologists.

Statistical and Methodological Aspects of Oral Health Research provides oral health researchers with an overview of the methodological aspects that are important in planning, conducting and analyzing their research projects whilst also providing biostatisticians with an idea of the statistical problems that arise when tackling oral health research questions. This collection presents critical reflections on oral health research and offers advice on practical aspects of setting up research whilst introducing the reader to basic as well as advanced statistical methodology. Features: An introduction to research methodology and an exposition of the state of the art. A variety of examples from oral health research. Contributions from well-known oral health researchers, epidemiologists and biostatisticians, all of whom have rich experience in this area. Recent developments in statistical methodology prompted by a variety of dental applications. Presenting both an introduction to research methodology and an exposition of the latest advances in oral health research, this book will appeal both beginning and experienced oral health researchers as well as biostatisticians and epidemiologists.

A complete guide to understanding cluster randomised trials Written by two researchers with extensive experience in the field, this book presents a complete guide to the design, analysis and reporting of cluster randomised trials. It spans a wide range of applications: trials in developing countries, trials in primary care, trials in the health services. A key feature is the use of R code and code from other popular packages to plan and analyse cluster trials, using data from actual trials. The book contains clear technical descriptions of the models used, and considers in detail the ethics involved in such trials and the problems in planning them. For readers and students who do not intend to run a trial but wish to be a critical reader of the literature, there are sections on the CONSORT statement, and exercises in reading published trials. Written in a clear, accessible style Features real examples taken from the authors’ extensive practitioner experience of designing and analysing clinical trials Demonstrates the use of R, Stata and SPSS for statistical analysis Includes computer code so the reader can replicate all the analyses Discusses neglected areas such as ethics and practical issues in running cluster randomised trials How to Design, Analyse and Report Cluster Randomised Trials in Medicine and Health Related Research provides an excellent reference tool and can be read with profit by statisticians, health services researchers, systematic reviewers and critical readers of cluster randomised trials.

The development and application of multivariate statistical techniques in process monitoring has gained substantial interest over the past two decades in academia and industry alike. Initially developed for monitoring and fault diagnosis in complex systems, such techniques have been refined and applied in various engineering areas, for example mechanical and manufacturing, chemical, electrical and electronic, and power engineering. The recipe for the tremendous interest in multivariate statistical techniques lies in its simplicity and adaptability for developing monitoring applications. In contrast, competitive model, signal or knowledge based techniques showed their potential only whenever cost-benefit economics have justified the required effort in developing applications. Statistical Monitoring of Complex Multivariate Processes presents recent advances in statistics based process monitoring, explaining how these processes can now be used in areas such as mechanical and manufacturing engineering for example, in addition to the traditional chemical industry. This book: Contains a detailed theoretical background of the component technology. Brings together a large body of work to address the field’s drawbacks, and develops methods for their improvement. Details cross-disciplinary utilization, exemplified by examples in chemical, mechanical and manufacturing engineering. Presents real life industrial applications, outlining deficiencies in the methodology and how to address them. Includes numerous examples, tutorial questions and homework assignments in the form of individual and team-based projects, to enhance the learning experience. Features a supplementary website including Matlab algorithms and data sets. This book provides a timely reference text to the rapidly evolving area of multivariate statistical analysis for academics, advanced level students, and practitioners alike.

Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.

The approach taken in this book is, to studies monitored over time, what the Central Limit Theorem is to studies with only one analysis. Just as the Central Limit Theorem shows that test statistics involving very different types of clinical trial outcomes are asymptotically normal, this book shows that the joint distribution of the test statistics at different analysis times is asymptotically multivariate normal with the correlation structure of Brownian motion ("the B-value") – irrespective of the test statistic. Thus, this book offers statisticians an accessible, incremental approach to understanding Brownian motion as related to clinical trials.