Basic Biostatistics Data
Session 2: Basic Biostatistics Data
Total Session Time: 120 minutes
Prerequisites
Learning Tasks
By the end of this session students are expected to be able to:
Resources Needed
SESSION OVERVIEW
Activity/
Step Time Content
Method
1 05 minutes Presentation Introduction, Learning Tasks
10 minutes Brainstorm
2 Definition of Data
Presentation
25 minutes
3 Presentation Characteristic of Data
25 minutes Buzzing
4 Presentation Sources of Data
15 minutes Buzzing
5 Types of Data
Presentation
30 minutes Presentation
6 The Quality of Data
7 05 minutes Presentation Key Points
8 05 minutes Presentation Evaluation
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PST 06210 Operational Research NTA Level 6 Semester 2 Facilitator Guide 7
SESSION CONTENTS
STEP1: Presentation of Session Title and Learning Tasks (5 minutes)
READ or ASK students to read the learning tasks and clarify
ASK students if they have any questions before continuing
STEP 2: Definition of Data (10 minutes)
Activity: Brainstorming (5 minutes)
Ask students to pair and brainstorm on the following question:
ALLOWS few students to respond
WRITE their responses on the flipchart or board
CLARIFY and SUMMARIZE by using the content below
o Put in the reverse, statistics provide an interpretation and summary of data.
STEP 3: Characteristic of Data (25 minutes)
o They must be in aggregates
o They must be affected to a marked extent by a multiplicity of
causes.
o They must be enumerated or estimated according to a reasonable standard of accuracy
o They must have been collected in a systematic manner for a predetermined purpose.
o They must be placed in relation to each other. That is, they
must be comparable
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PST 06210 Operational Research NTA Level 6 Semester 2 Facilitator Guide 8
STEP 4: Sources of Data (25 minutes)
o Vital events register
This includes data on live-births, deaths, marriages and migration. This
register should ideally provide a comprehensive coverage of the whole
district/country. It is usually used to calculate demographic indicators such as infant
and under-five mortality rate
o National Population Census
This is an important source of demographic, social and economic data. These data
form the denominator in the calculation of many quantifiable health indicators.
National population census provides total population and age structure, which is not
easy to obtain through any other method.
o Routine data collection from health facilities
Routine data collection from health facilities is a good source of information for
disease, specifically morbidity and mortality data. This is because the information
is obtained from active cases and the data are collected by a professional, qualified
person.
o Sentinel surveillance
This is a system in which data is collected routinely from selected health facilities
or communities. It is very useful in obtaining specific morbidity data in a more
detailed form, particularly endemic diseases and those under special control
programmes, with an improved accuracy compared with routine data collection
system
o Surveys
A survey is very useful for evaluation because it can be done in a shorter time and
obtains a lot of detailed representative data. Surveys have the advantage of providing
timely and relevant information. Often surveys are done in the community, and hence
become more representative of the real situation than data obtained from health
facilities e.g. Demographic and health survey
o Reports and documents
A lot of reports and documents with useful information are produced daily in the
ministries of health, in training and research institutions.
o Scientific research
Research findings are usually of very high quality and can be useful in medium and
long term planning of health services. Comparatively, researches are more focused on
the subject matter than other sources of information
o External sources
o Data are collected by individual research workers or by other organizations through
sample surveys or experiments, keeping in view the objectives of the study in your
environment
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PST 06210 Operational Research NTA Level 6 Semester 2 Facilitator Guide 9
STEP 5: Types of Data (15 minutes)
Activity: Buzzing (10 minutes)
ASK students to pair up and buzz on the following question for 2 minutes
pharmaceutical services?
ALLOW few pairs to respond and let other pairs to add on points not mentioned
WRITE their response on the flip chart/board
CLARIFY and SUMMARIZE by using the content below
o Primary Data
Primary data means the raw data (data without fabrication or not tailored data)
which has just been collected from the source and has not gone any kind of
statistical treatment like sorting and tabulation
Primary data is collected firsthand by a researcher (organization, person,
authority, agency or party etc.) through experiments, surveys, questionnaires,
focus groups, conducting interviews and taking (required) measurements
o Secondary Data
public through publications, journals and newspapers
STEP 6: The Quality of Data (30 minutes)
Data quality refers to the condition of a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables.
making and planning.
o Timeliness: For data to become useful for decision-making it must reach the manager
at the appropriate time. Data on drug stock-outs and overstock should reach the
management before the meeting to make decisions on the type and amount of drugs to
procure for the next month.
o Accuracy: Data collected should be accurate enough for the manager to have
confidence in using it. However, despite the need for a high level of accuracy, it
should be borne in mind that any effort to increase the level of accuracy will be met
with an increase in the cost of collecting and processing that data. However, the level
of accuracy required in the day-to-day decision-making and planning is not as
stringent as may be required in scientific research.
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PST 06210 Operational Research NTA Level 6 Semester 2 Facilitator Guide 10
o Appropriateness: Data collected should be appropriate for the intended objectives.
Inappropriate data will not be used and may become an unnecessary extra burden for
health workers. Whereas the higher level requires strategic information to make
policy decisions, the lower level requires technical information to make management
decisions.
o User-friendliness: Data should therefore be presented in a user-friendly format to
enable decision makers to interpret and use it for decision-making. Charts, maps and
graphs convey the message better than complex tables and narratives.
o Comprehensiveness: Data should be comprehensive with enough details to allow for
decision making. A pharmacist would need to be informed on not only the type of
drug that went out of stock but also the form of drug, e.g. syrup, tablets or injectables.
o Simplicity: The process of data collection and analyses should therefore be fairly
simplified and only the necessary data should be collected on a daily basis. It should
always be borne in mind that the majority of lower level health worker have had no
training in statistics.
o Accessibility: Information emanating from the data should be accessible to managers
at all levels to facilitate decision–making, and stored properly for easy retrieval. It
should reach the manager in a timely manner, depending on the type of decisions
made.
STEP 7: Key Points (5 minutes)
comprehensive, simple, accessible and user friendly
STEP 8: Evaluation (5 minutes)
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PST 06210 Operational Research NTA Level 6 Semester 2 Facilitator Guide 11
References
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J., Williams, T.A., Freeman, J. & Shoesmith, E. (2007).
Basic Statistics and epidemiology (2001). A practical guide, Radcliffe Medical Press,
United Kingdom
Beaglehole R, Bonita R and Kjellstrom (1993) Basic epidemiology, World Health
Organization, Geneva
Kazaura, M. R., Makwaya, C. K., Masanja, C. M. and Mpembeni, R.C. (1997). Lecture notesin
Biostatistics, manual of biostatistics: Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences,
Dar es Salaam
Polit, D. F and Beck, C. T (2004) Nursing Research – Principles and Methods, 7th Edition:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia
Rao, J. S., & Richard, J. (2002). An introduction to biostatistics-a manual for students in
helthsciences (3rd. Ed): New Delhi, India: Prentice-Hall of India Pvt.Ltd
Rosner B (2010): Fundamental of Biostatistics (7th Ed.): Boston, USA: Cengage Learning
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PST 06210 Operational Research NTA Level 6 Semester 2 Facilitator Guide 12
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