News & numbers : a guide to reporting statistical claims and controversies in health and other fields / Victor Cohn, Lewis Cope ; foreword by Jay A. Winsten.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohn, Victor, 1919-2000.

Contributor:

Cope, Lewis, 1934-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public health--Statistics.

Public health.

Environmental health--Statistics.

Environmental health.

Vital statistics.

Genre:

Statistics.

Physical Description:

xviii, 211 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Other Title:

News and numbers

Place of Publication:

Ames : Iowa State University Press, 2001.

Summary:

News & Numbers gives reporters the information they need to understand, analyze and explain statistics in health science and related areas. It enables the reporter to judge the probable truth of an event; weigh and question claims; and read or judge the contentions of scientists, doctors, environmentalists, politicians, economists and others. This long-awaited second edition includes: new material and updates in every chapter including disease outbreak epidemiology and focus groups, managed health care plans, and polls, risk ratios, new cancer statistics and more than 70 new examples.

Contents:

Condensed from the Foreword to the 1989 Edition xv

1. Where We Can Do Better 3

The Challenge 4

Four Areas for Improvement 5

2. The Certainty of Uncertainty 9

The Scientific Method 10

Focusing on Medicine 13

3. Testing the Evidence 15

How to Search for the Truth 16

How Probable Is It? 18

Expect Some Unexpected Events 24

Appreciate the "Power" of Big Numbers 25

Eliminate Bias; Consider Alternate Explanations 28

Expect Variability 34

Putting a Human Face on Variability 38

4. What's a Good Study? 40

Experiments versus Seductive Anecdotes 43

Clinical Researchers at Work 44

Clinical Studies: How to Judge Them 46

Alternative Medicine 49

"Disease Detectives" at Work 50

Disease Outbreaks: What to Watch For 55

5. Questions You Can Ask 59

The Bottom Line 75

6. Tests and Testing: Measuring What Works 77

Patients' Tests 78

Drugs and Drug Trials 83

Animals as Stand-Ins for Us 86

7. Vital Statistics: Measuring Life and Health 89

The Key Role of Rates in Vital Statistics 90

Key Rates of Death and Disease 91

Crude Rates versus Rates That Compare 93

Putting Numbers on Risks 95

Cancer Statistics 97

Shifts, Drifts, and Blips 105

8. Health Plans and Hospitals: Measuring Their Quality 107

Health Plans and Managed Care 108

Hospital Care Statistics 114

9. Our Environment and Measuring All Risks 119

Start with Some Key Questions 121

Evaluate What You've Learned 123

Know the Limits of Science 127

Questions to Evaluate Hazards 130

Questions to Evaluate Studies 134

Special Statistical Situations 138

Tips for Reporting Risks 140

10. Polls: Measuring What We Think 145

Polling with Care 146

Case Histories: Ventura, Reagan, and Bush 150

Other Poll-Watching Advice 152

Another Case History: Asking about Sex 154

Potential Perils of "Snowball Samples" 156

What Focus Groups Can and Can't Do 157

11. Politics, Your Pocketbook, and Plenty More 159

Statistical Shenanigans 160

Newsy Numbers on Numerous Fronts 162

Reporting a Disease Outbreak 178

Checklists for Studies and Polls 180

What Makes a Good Reporter? 181.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-204) and index.

ISBN:

0813814243

OCLC:

46811997