Biostatistics Primer: Part 2

Biostatistics is the application of statistics to biologic data. This article is the second part of a 2-part series on the application of statistics in nutrition science. The first article, published in the December 2007 issue, reviewed descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics, to be discussed in this article, can be used to make predictions based on a sample obtained from a population or some large body of information. It is these inferences that are used to test specific research hypotheses. This article focuses on inferential statistics and their application in the nutrition and biomedical literature. Additionally, this review will outline some of the most commonly used statistical tests found in the biomedical literature.