Introduction to Clinical Statistics module (GM51086)

Reproductive medicine is a rapidly changing field and over the last 3 decades success rates have drastically improved. This improvement is largely thanks to high quality research and resulting evidence-based practice. Statistical analysis, and its interpretation, is a vital part of carrying out and implementing good research and any practitioner working effectively in this filed will need to be able to evaluate and interpret published research to maintain the highest standard of practice.

This module is part of the Clinical Embryology and IVF postgraduate distance learning programme and you will gain a postgraduate level understanding of statistics relevant to the biological and clinical data in reproductive medical research.

You will be introduced to the terminology and concepts of basic statistics, as well as how to classify, describe, visualise, and analyse observations and data.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• study common descriptive and inferential statistics
• explore methods and software for visualising and communicating data
• examine different research methods and experimental designs
• review how scientific data is communicated within published literature
• learn from both statisticians and reproductive biologists
• apply your learning to data analysis tasks

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics used in biological research
• critically evaluate published primary literature in the field of reproductive medicine
• apply core data analysis principles in your ongoing education and planned career in ART
• communicate and visualise the results of experiments in graphs and figures

Assignments / assessment

• course work (17%)
• online exam (83%)
• formative assignments
  • question and answer sessions
  • discussion boards
  • quizzes
  • data visualisation project

Teaching methods / timetable

This module is part of a part-time distance learning course (MSc Clinical Embryology and IVF). All teaching and materials will be available online, with the majority of activities taking place asynchronously in our virtual learning environment.

Teaching activities include:

• recorded lectures
• video tutorials
• discussion boards

Optional drop-in sessions with course tutors are available regularly throughout the module. Additional support can also be provided through your academic advisor.