Course description: The study of statistics explores the collection, organization, analysis and interpretation of numerical data. We study statistics because the use of data has become ever more common in a growing number of professions, including the health sciences. Applied properly, statistical methods can help to answer hard questions.
The course begins with a study of statistical designs for producing "good" data, that is, for producing data so that meaningful conclusions can be drawn from the results. Graphical and numerical tools for describing, summarizing and understanding data are studied next, followed by careful introductions to the principles of probability theory and the principles of statistical inference. The principles are applied in a few important settings. Essential requirements for the course are a working knowledge of algebra, a familiarity with set operations, an ability to read and interpret word problems, and an ability to interpret the solution to a word problem in the context of the problem.
MT180 is the mathematics core requirement for students in the Connell School of Nursing (CSON), and complements research-oriented courses given by CSON faculty members. At present, enrollment is restricted to CSON students.
Spring 2007 course information: The main text for the course is a custom set of course notes (mt180), and the companion text is Principles of Biostatistics, Second Edition by Harvard University Professors Marcello Pagano and Kimberlee Gauvreau (Duxbury Press, 2000). Daily handouts for the course have been organized into four downloadable notebooks (notebook1, notebook2, notebook3, notebook4).
Additional information: MT180 course development was supported by a 2006-2007 Boston College Teaching and Mentoring Grant. The diagram above, known as a polar diagram (or a rose diagram), was developed by Florence Nightingale to display causes of mortality at military field hospitals during the Crimean War. Florence Nightingale is known for her contributions to the fields of nursing and statistics.