Statistical Tools in Research - Essay Example

Statistical Tools in ResearchIntroduction The statistical results, specifically the mean and standard deviation (SD), provide evidence of the closeness and correlation of the results obtained by using different methods or two varying independent samples or groups. Epidemiology studies about nitrates as cancer-causing substances also use these statistical tools.Statistical tools The study conducted by Narayana and Sunil (204) used statistical tools to be able to prove the equivalence of their proposed method to the reported or standard methods already available in literature.

The study that was conducted is a two-sided test, wherein the hypothesis is that the results from the proposed and reported methods are not different (fao.org). The t-test is a statistical tool that can help evaluate the average results between two independent groups (statsoft.com). In this case, the independent groups are the proposed and reported methods. The means of the two methods were compared to determine the values for the t-test (fao.org). The t-test values with their respective n degrees of freedom were determined using the Student’s t-test table, and the researchers were able to provide evidence that the proposed and reported methods are similar.

The F-test is a ratio of the variances, and measures the similarity of the results obtained using two different methods (fao.org). Given the F-value for the n degrees of freedom, the authors were able to establish that their proposed method is similar to the reported method. Accuracy of the method, expressed as % Recovery, was also measured. The recovery, in terms of percentage, is a ratio of the actual result and the theoretical value in the study (Narayana and Sunil, 207 – 208). The study conducted by Ward et al. (696-698) also used the mean and SD to compare the pancreatic cancer cases brought about by nitrates and those of the control population.

The researchers used the odds ratio and % confidence interval to quantify their observations. However, in the calculation of the odds ratio, adjustments had to be made to account for age, gender and smoking habits of the participants. The odds ratio is a ratio of the probability of a particular event or disease to occur with its probability of not occurring (Goldin, stats.org). The values obtained will have a maximum value of 1, which implies a 50:50 chance of occurring and not occurring.Conclusion The mean and standard deviation of results do not only provide the spread of the data in the population but can also be used to compare two different methods, and arrive at associations between a disease and its possible causes.

Narayana and Sunil were able to optimize the use of statistics in the study that they conducted, with the use of the t-test and F-test. Based on the statistical information that they were able to derive, I think the generated data is enough to support the hypothesis that was presented. The values of the t-test and F-test were good evidences that the proposed method is similar to the reported or standard method. The study conducted by Ward et al.,on the other hand , did not have quantification of the bias on their methodology.

This could have presented the accuracy or precision of their findings.Works Cited“6 Basic Statistical Tools”. fao.org. fao. n.d. Web. 27 Oct 2011.“Basic Statistics”. statsoft.com. n.d. Web. 27 Oct 2011.Goldin, Rebecca. “Odds Ratios”. stats.org. George Madison University. 4 Apr 2007. Web. 12 Nov 2011.Narayana, Badiadka and Sunil, Kenchaiah. A Spectrophotometric Method for the Determination of Nitrite and Nitrate. Eurasian J. Anal. Chem. 4.3 (2009): 204 – 214. Web. 27 Oct 2011.Ward, Mary H.

, Coss, Angela, Cantor, Kenneth P, Reif, John S., and Lynch, Charles F. Pancreatic Cancer and Drinking Water and Dietary Sources of Nitrate and Nitrite. American Journal of Epidemiology. 159.7 (2004) : 693 – 701. Web. 12 Nov 2011.