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Rutgers SHP Requirements for Graduation and Course Descriptions

Department of Interdisciplinary Studies

Health Sciences

IDST6121 - Data Analysis & Interpretation I

Course Description

Covers the selection, application, and interpretation of basic statistical tests and procedures used in the health sciences and methods for effective data communication and presentation. Topics include descriptive statistics, statistical inference, procedures associated with basic linear modeling, and nonparametric statistics.
Because this is a statistics course designed for both academic and professional health science degrees, the goal is to provide you with (a) an introductory exposure to statistical concept and theory (non-mathematical) within the context of healthcare examples, (b) a working knowledge of statistical procedures common in the academic and health-profession research, and (c) experience with a common statistical software package (IBM SPSS).
The amount of time you can expect to spend on the coursework will vary depending on your exposure to statistics prior to this class and whether you have any exposure to SPSS (or other statistical software). Based on the experience of previous students, you should expect to spend approximately 10-12 hours a week on the course if you have some statistics experience (e.g., with your job or a strong undergraduate statistics course) and already have some exposure to SPSS or other statistical software. If you are new to both statistics and statistical software, it is probably best to plan to spend closer to 20 hours per week on coursework—especially in the first several weeks while you are finding your footing with SPSS.
If this is your first statistics class (or the first statistics class you have had in some time), you are advised to weigh carefully the time commitment you will need to make to this class (in conjunction with family and work commitments). If you are in a full time professional position and/or have a busy family schedule, you are advised against taking this class in conjunction with another highly demanding academic class.

Credits/Modes of Instruction

Credits: 3

This is a 3-credit graduate course provided via the Internet. The mode of instruction is directed study. Directed study is an active learning method that emphasizes what the learner does, not the teacher. In this method, you engage the content via structured assignments and activities, i.e., you learn by doing. The instructor's role is to (1) design the assignments and activities to promote active learning, (2) prepare you for and direct you in assignment completion, and (3) provide you with feedback on your achievement and progress.
You are strongly encouraged to work with colleagues in the class on weekly assignments. Because of the team/collegial nature of healthcare practice (and academic pursuit), this collective approach to learning statistics is consistent with what we expect you to encounter outside of class. So, it is expected that students will work together on weekly assignments. All writing must be a student's own, but students are encouraged to meet regularly to cover material and offer feedback to each other.

Prerequisites

Enrollment in IDST6121 is open to all graduates students (matriculants and non-matriculants). Enrollment of BS-level students requires permission of the instructor.

Course Goals and Outcomes:

Goals

The goal of this course is to provide students with the skills needed to plan and successfully implement the data analysis phase of a quantitative research study, including the presentation and interpretation of findings.

Outcomes

After completion of this course, students should be able to:
Aggregate and report data using descriptive and graphical techniques
Select appropriate tests for and conduct, present and interpret the result of analyses that:
describe categorical and continuous data,
assess the relationships among variables,
compare group means,
predict a dependent variable,
measure association between nominal or ordinal data.