Biostatistics and Statistics

A common question being faced by all the Biostatisticians was the difference between the Statistics and Biostatistics. One simple answer would be, Biostatistics is Statistics as applied to the Biological Science.

As mentioned in the book [1], Statistics is a science that deals with the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of information that can be stated numerically. We usually make inferences (scientific evidence) about the population based on the statistics from a sample from the population (usually a simple random sample).  

The logic of Biostatistics relates statistics to medicine when a physician practices medicine: what is observed for a particular patient is incorporated with what has previously been observed for a large group of patients to make a specific decision about that particular patient. Much of the Biostatistics are estimation of population parameters based on the sample statistics, and test the hypothesis about the parameters. We will need the sample represent the population where the sample are taken.

One area of Biostatistics is to search for methods that provide good estimation of the population parameter and to test the hypothesis about the parameters. Despite the obscuring effects of inherent variability and multi-factorial causation, there are many general tendencies that lead to patterns in research data [1]. Biostatisticians will statistically investigate the patterns in the samples of data and will help the health professionals to make inferences about the population, the sample represented, to reduce the chance of disease and to develop and improve disease intervention with the aim of advancing healthy well-beings.

Sound medical research requires a careful synthesis of expertise in many disciplines, including statistics, medicine, epidemiology, etc.

Reference:

1. Elston, Robert C., and William Johnson. Basic Biostatistics for Geneticists and Epidemiologists: A Practical Approach. 1st ed. Wiley, 2008.