Biostatistical Methods for Clinical Research I (BIOSTAT 200)

The specific objectives of this course are to provide a basic understanding of:

1. To understand the basic biostatistics terms and notation.
2. To understand the concepts underlying most statistical analyses, as a foundation for more advanced methods.
3. To acquire skills to manage and summarize data and conduct basic statistical using STATA or R.
4. To be able to present and visualize data.
5. To understand basic statistical analyses in published journals.

None

Lecture: Tuesdays: 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM, beginning September 24

Computer Labs: Thursdays: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM, beginning September 26

All course materials and handouts will be posted on the course's online syllabus.

Suggested texts that maybe helpful but not required:

Principles of Biostatistics by M. Pagano and K. Gauvreau, Duxbury Press. 2nd edition. 2018. Chapman and Hall/CRC.

Acock, Alan C. (2018) A Gentle Introduction to Stata (6th ed.). United States, Stata Press. 

Stata
The statistical software package Stata (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX) is used throughout the TICR Program and is required for this course; version 16 or higher is acceptable. A six-month student license for Stata/BE is the least expensive option that will be suitable to complete all course assignments. For students intending to enroll in courses over 1-2 years, an annual or perpetual license are better long-term options. If your research requires working with more variables, you also may wish to consider Stata/SE. We recommend that you have a personal copy of Stata and bring it on a laptop for all course sessions. Stata may be purchased at a discount for UCSF faculty/staff and official UCSF Students. You must use your ucsf.edu email address to receive the discount. If you do not purchase your own copy of Stata, UCSF faculty/staff/students may request access to Stata through the UCSF Research Analysis Environment.

R
R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS. To download R, please choose your preferred CRAN mirror.

RStudio
The RStudio is a set of integrated tools designed to help you be more productive with R. It includes a console, syntax-highlighting editor that supports direct code execution, and a variety of robust tools for plotting, viewing history, debugging and managing your workspace. To download RStudio visit: https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/

Books may be purchased either through the publisher or a variety of commercial venues (e.g., Amazon.com).

Grades in the course will be assigned as follows: homework assignment 50%, Midterm assignment 20%, and final examination 30%.

Students not in full-year TICR Programs who satisfactorily pass all course requirements will, upon request, receive a Certificate of Course Completion.

Only UCSF students (defined as individuals enrolled in UCSF degree or certificate programs) will receive academic credit for courses. Official transcripts are available to UCSF students only. A Certificate of Course Completion will be available upon request to individuals who are not UCSF students and satisfactorily pass all course requirements.

UCSF Graduate Division Policy on Disabilities

ATCR and MAS students use the Student Portal

Students taking individual courses:

Fall 2024 Course Fees
How to pay (please read before applying)
Fall 2024 Course Schedule

Apply  by September 6, 2024.

Only one application needs to be completed for all courses desired during the quarter.