This is the program for the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Abstract Details

Activity Number: 528
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences
Abstract - #309176
Title: Misuse of Statistical Terms: What Should We Do About It?
Author(s): Charlie Goldsmith*+
Companies: McMaster University
Address: Biostatistics Unit, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, ON, L8N 4A6, Canada
Keywords: Misuse of staitistical terms ; Biomedical publication ; Journals ; Text books
Abstract:

The author was a Biostatistical Consultant to the Canadian Medical Association Journal(CMAJ) for 21 months from 2006-04 to 2007-12. He read over 500 papers that were submitted for publication in CMAJ, many contained inappropriate use of statistical terms such as: range, quintile, parameter, and alpha. Journal editors sometimes let the improper usage stay in their journal. This presentation will also show what should have been used in their place to properly transmit the idea being used. Biostatisticians should do their share of reviewing for the biomedical literature to ensure that statistical terms are used correctly. Often textbooks written by non-statisticians are the source of such errors, so statisticians should be commenting on these errors to publishers and in their journal reviews of these text books, so the writing of the next generation does not propagate these errors.


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