role of applied statistics in medical laboratory science?
96086
What's your question?  Applied statistics are critical for the successful evaluation of lab studies.  Without it  interpretations of experimental results are subjective.  Of course, an over reliance on statistics is just as dangerous as many statistics show at the end of the day is testing the probability of an event occuring against the random probability of chance.
270990
Descriptive Statistics do no intend to "fit" a distribution on the data or to predict new observations given the data.\nInstead, it pretends to "describe" the data in terms of its central tendency measures (mean, median, etc.) as well as dispersion statistics (variance,  rank, inter-quartile rank, etc.), bias statistics, etc.\nSummaries like histograms are also a good example of descriptive statistics.
1166976
As to part one, I can not recommend any acceptable, known test for such data (perhaps what I've written below might work).\n\nAs to part two, this is a horrid approximation since the midrange as the mean is a major assumption (even more far-reaching than assuming something about the populations' probability distributions).\n\nFor part 3 and also part 1:\n\nThe first problem you run into is that you do not know anything about the nature of the population distribution (normal, uniform, etc).  Thus, a nonparametric test would be required.  I know of no nonparametric tests for any of the statistics you have (minimum, maximum or range).\n\nIf it is possible to obtain the actual values for each of the samples in each set, the Kruskal-Wallis test should suffice.  It is nonparametric, so there are no problems with the requirement of assumptions about population distributions.\n\nFurther, its job is to determine if two samples are far enough apart such that the null hypothesis that the population distributions are the same can be rejected.  This would give you what you desire.\n\nAs far as your problem is concerned, the only statistics you have are minimum, maximum and range.   Perhaps one could derive a test to test the minima or maxima of each set, but one still runs into the problem that there can be no parameter placed on the population distribution.\n\nIf you can make an assumption about the distributions of the populations of interest (normal or whatnot), then it would be possible to derive such a test.  This would be a tedious task, however, as it would require thorough knowledge of order statistics and distribution functions.\n\nOne would need to use a test statistic based of off the difference in the two statistics that you use (I would use the maxima since they are further apart than the minima and probability distributions for ranges are uncharted territory unless you're a Ph.D.).  Thus, your test statistic is based off of the difference between the maxima (Y(n) - Z(n) where the (n) are subscripts, which is 2 in this case).\n\nTo perform this test, you would need to derive the probability distribution of the difference of the two maxima and use that to find the probability of the difference being two or greater.  This is quite a task for anyone and requires a large amount of knowledge in mathematical statistics.  I believe I could perform such a task, but it would likely take some time to complete.\n\nRemember though that you must make a critical assumption about the population before you can even do this.  I would recommend using the assumption of uniformity if you are unsure of the populations' distributions.  This is because the derived test would then be least likely to give a type I error, where you reject the data improperly, because the test is less likely to reject.
509983
How you use statistical tools to analyze your data depends entirely on what kind of data you have and the questions you are trying to answer with your data.  Some kinds of data lend themselves to descriptive analysis, in which you summarize your findings with means, medians, standard deviations, etc.  Other data are suitable for formal hypothesis testing, which calls for the application of statistical tools such as t-tests, analysis of variance, linear regression, multiple regression, proportional hazards modeling, life table analysis, etc.  Ideally, the preparatory phase of a research project would include a consultation with someone familiar with biostatistics before the data are ever collected.\n\nHowever, you can make a start by going to the following website:\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics\n\nYou will learn a lot in a short period of time by going there.  But be careful!  Application of statistical tools in biomedical research is not a cookbook operation.  You would be well advised to consult with someone knowledgeable, who can inspect your data and offer advice about how to analyze them.  Such a person can also help you interpret the results of any statistical testing you do.  This is not always straightforward; misinterpretation of data and their analysis will lead to failure to get your papers published, at best, or worse, the misleading of the medical community and the general public about potentially serious issues.
1156399
This is a good question even for a statistician.\nThe problem is your set is small and I do not know what the deviation between samples is, however the repeatability and reproducibility information can bind the window \nthrough which the third value will fall through or perhaps even remain in.  \n\nLet me know.
184404
I usually prefer not to use it; anyway very many things are based on statistics: most branches of medicine, TV programs' shares, quality control of any little object you buy...\n\nIf I find others, I'll update the answer.
228637
statistical methods are used to quantify quality in any process.  \n\nMinitab is a good software package for quality and charting that information.  Easy to use too!\n\nOf course Excel is the old standby.  Click on help to get a list of statistical functions.\n\nGood luck!
843125
Mathmatics and Statistics are a great course of study for analyzing data.  My major was Business Management and Administration, and I am a Quality Manager for a call center.  I analyze quality data and determine trends and areas of opportunity for our agents to improve their customer service skills.\n\nSince you don't like math, look into courses that offer logic and discussion.  By learning how to ask questions and seek out the root answers, it'll help you in analyzing.
466776
Statistics studies, among other things, deviations from normals and can help to explain errors (as well as help explain how errors are propagated and where their sources can be).\n\nFor example, if you have a numerical amount with an error and you multiply that value by something known and constant (like conversion from USD to Euros, for example), that error will be multiplied by that conversion rate.\n\nStatistics uses error calculation such as standard deviation (how much a value can vary from the average amount) and goes very far into detail about sums of errors etc. and how they affect averages, errors, and final values.\n\nAdditinoally, there are some formulae that are used all throughout the sciences that can be applied to accounting, and those sciences use statistics, again, to calculate errors.  For example, growth and decay of a radioactive substance has a certain formula that uses exponential (e to the power of something), but this is also used to calculate economic growth rates and can be applied to the stock market (it can also be used to explain traffic jams and other civil engineering problems).
238846
forensic chemists conduct many different analyses including tests to determine purity of drugs, drug concentrations in bodily fluids such as blood and urine, analysis of accelerants used in arson, trace analysis (glass, paint components, fibers, hairs, etc.), analysis of unknown substances and so on.\n\nThese analyses can be used in conjunction with other evidence to either incriminate or exonerate suspects, determine severity of sentencing criminals and even to rule out foul play all together.
364687
Every medical laboratory is to some extent unique. This lab uses that reagent supplier for blood tests, and some other supplier for tissue tests, and so on. Another lab uses a different collection of suppliers. And, different labs use different procedures to some extent (eg, different workloads of facility layouts). And there are often several different equipment vendors, whose equipment works slightly differently, using different operational sequences and check points.\n\nSo, the very same sample (at least taken from a single larger original sample anyway) will give slightly different results in every lab for most any particular test. In order to lessen the chance of confusion, labs report a 'norm' value for many tests to tell those interpreting the test that our values run <a little higher than the literature reports...> or something similar. They also usually supply a 'normal range' for each test as a courtesy to whoever has to look at the reports; people vary quite a lot, and this value might be acceptable in you but not in someone else quite apart from any laboratory norm differences from other labs.\n\nSince the values in clinical lab reports are often used to decide questions of diagnosis and treatment, it's pretty important (actually vital) to be certain the lab's results are as claimed. And certainly that any errors which can be caught are actually identified. There is a small industry of calibrated sample suppliers and operational testing to ensure this. \n\n==========\nblood glucose testing example\n\nTake, for instance, the home blood glucose monitors used by many diabetics. These generally come with a small bottle of test solution (or control solution, depending on who is choosing names). This is carefully concocted 'fake blood' with a pre-determined concentration of glucose. By using it (if it hasn't partially evaporated or deteriorated), one can test the operation of the glucose meter/test strip combination, qualitatively -- and to some extent quantitatively. A similar dodge is used in actual laboratories. To avoid 'fudging' in the labs themselves (a kind of Caesar's wife's reputation sort of thing), test reagents are generally not made locally, but rather in a central facility.\n\n======\nregulation, licensing, accreditation\n\nLabs are also supervised by industry accrediting bodies rather like colleges, and almost always have statutory and regulatory supervision (mandatory licensing, for example). \n\n======\nmalfeasance\n\nDespite all of this, it's still possible for mendacious lab operators to perform poorly. Especially in circumstances which require some subjective evaluation. A recent example in the US, though not exactly a laboratory issue, is the exposure of what seems to have been a litigation fraud involving lung diseases caused by mining or industrial operations. Attorneys have advertised for plaintiffs, provided testing for them, and organized suits for damages based on the results. The tests (X-rays and the interpretation thereof, primarily) were performed by  independent contracting physicians and X-ray labs, but it seems that several folks noticed that business depended on the findings. There were an awfully large number of folks found to have lung disease who may not have had it all, or at least not the disease for which damages were being sought. Just who arranged for it all, beyond a small number of doctors who made quick diagnoses from medical files, usually without actually meeting patients, is not clear. The lawyers certainly benefited in that they found clients for whom ot work. The patients benefited, though often not very much as individual settlements were often not large. As the situation is clarified, we may learn more as to who organized it, if there is indeed a single organizing brain. \n\nPsychological testing is not very lab based, but the same (or something similar) kind of problem has been noticed in exert evaluations
337766
NOTE: A standard reference range is not available for this test. Because reference values are dependent on many factors, including patient age, gender, sample population, and test method, numeric test results have different meanings in different labs. Your lab report should include the specific reference range for your test. Lab Tests Online strongly recommends that you discuss your test results with your doctor. For more information on reference ranges,
741648
It is extremely useful in doing any kind of research-based analysis.  For example, let's just say you are studying a large number of mice, collected in the field.  You want to examine their health based on their environment, and you are specifically looking at environmental toxins.  You survey the farmers at each collection point, and ask what fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc. they use.  You record all of the data, and do testing on the mice to determine what their toxin levels are.  Then you also wish to see what problems may be associated in the mice with a specific toxin.  But you have some mice that are way off the charts in terms of averages for a certain element or toxin.  Does this taint the result?  Did these mice somehow contact those toxins abnormally (i.e. "experimental contamination")? Should you throw those "outliers" out of the data to keep them from skewing the statistics?  What do you do with these?  Here is where a good knowledge of probabilities and of statistics will really come in handy.  \n\nAs they say, figures don't lie, but liars can figure.  One's use of proper mathematical science can render the biological science either useful or useless.
455102
Yes, for scientists, statisticians, social researchers,statistics is a critical field.  In addition, statistics for laypeople, or non-experts, is a very powerful way to explain population trends and explain things such as the bell-shped distribution that most characteristics fall under, and the concept of statistically significant difference.
220731
I would recommend the following:\n\n1.  "Applied GeoStatistics" \n        by Edward H. Isaaks and R.M.Srivastava\n2.  "Statistical and Data Analysis in Geology" \n        by J.C.Davis\n\nIf you are asking about use in specific industry then do let me know. I would be able to guide you.\n\nAlso I would suggest you check this website\nhttp://www.statios.com/Training/\n\nyou can download the pdfs which are good source of Information.
224261
I'm good at statistics.  Why do you ask?
466452
Assuming you are not doing research and you are trying to identify a specific skill. You don't need to worry too much. You should use your clinical judgment.  If you are trying to decide if the child is in need of services then you have many tools you can use to help make this decision.  If you are trying to get a baseline then adding counting will deflate your sample, not inflate it.  It may be more important for you to decide if the counting was appropriate?