Course Description: Cc3780@cumc - Columbia.edu

P8130 - BIOSTATISTICAL METHODS I
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This one-semester course introduces basic applied descriptive and inferential statistics. The first part of
the course includes elementary probability theory, an introduction to statistical distributions, principles
of estimation and hypothesis testing, methods for comparison of discrete and continuous data including
chi-squared test of independence, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and their non-parametric
equivalents. The second part of the course focuses on linear models (regression) theory and their
practical implementation. This part also introduces mixed-effects models and concepts of survival
analysis.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students who successfully complete this course will:
 Be able to distinguish among different types of data and correctly apply statistical methods of
analysis including summary, descriptive statistics
 Know how to utilize probability distributions and their properties
 Be able to formulate and assess statistical hypotheses
 Have a good understanding of linear regression models, theory and applications, for both fixed
and random effects
 Be able to apply various regression techniques to real data projects
 Be familiar with survival analysis concepts and Kaplan-Meier method of estimation
 Be able to use R and/or SAS for data management, analysis and results interpretation
CLASS SESSIONS
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00-11:20am, P&S Building 7th Floor Amphitheatre (AMP 7)
*On Tuesday, Oct 24th 2017, class will be held in P&S Building AMP 1
RECITATION SESSIONS
Mondays and/or Wednesdays, 5:30-6:50pm, Hammer LL203
First day of recitation: Monday, Sept 18th 2017
INSTRUCTOR
Cody Chiuzan, PhD
Department of Biostatistics, 6th floor, room 651
Mailman School of Public Health
Email: [email protected]
Tel: (212) 305-9107
Office Hours: By appointment (email me)
TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Zilan Chai, email: [email protected]
Rebecca Deek, email: [email protected]
Yutao Liu, email: [email protected]
Shuang Wu, email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:50-7:30pm, Hammer LL203
Department of Biostatistics Fall 2017

PREREQUISITES
Students are required to have working knowledge of calculus and linear algebra. Some programming
experience with R and/or SAS is recommended, but not required.
TEXTBOOKS
Required:
 Rosner, B. Fundamentals of Biostatistics, 8th edition, Books/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2011.
 Kutner M.H., Nachtsheim C.J., Neter J., Li W., Applied Linear Statistical Models, 5th edition,
McGraw-Hill International, 2013.
Recommended:
 Searle S.R., Linear Models, Wiley, 1997.
 Faraway J., Linear Models with R, CRC Press, 2005.
 Peng R., R Programming for Data Science, 2016.
 Der G. and Everitt B.S., Applied Medical Statistics Using SAS, 2nd edition, Taylor & Francis, 2012.
 Hosmer D.W., Lemeshow S., May S., Applied Survival Analysis: Regression Modeling of Time-to-Event
Data, Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008.
ASSESSMENT AND GRADING POLICY

Student grades will be based on:
Homework .......................................................................... 20%
Exam 1................................................................................. 25%
Exam 2................................................................................. 25%
Final Project ........................................................................ 25%
Classroom Participation…………………………….....5%
There will be 5-7 homework assignments during the semester. Assignments may include derivation of
theoretical properties, data analyses and programming. All assignments must be submitted electronically.
Theoretical derivations can be handwritten and scanned, but only clear and legible handwriting will be
graded. Other work should be typeset, e.g. MS Word, LaTeX, R Markdown, your choice.
The closed-book exams will be held in-class on:

Exam 1: Oct 12th, 2017 @ 10:00am and Exam 2: Nov 21st, 2017 @ 10:00am.
If needed, a formula sheet will be provided to you on the day of the exam. Also, bring a calculator, as
you will not be allowed to use your cell phones for any reason.
The final (group) project will consist of an extended data analysis and a brief, but well-structured report.
The project will be due on Dec 15th, 2017 @ 5:00pm.
Recitation sessions will consist of a combination of practice problems and R/SAS software lab. Even
though these sessions are not mandatory, students are strongly encouraged to attend, as the content will
complement the class lectures and contain important software procedures.
Classroom participation is important! A continuous dialogue between students and instructor is

always beneficial in addressing misunderstandings or raise interesting problems. Sporadically, you will
also have class exercises to apply various statistical concepts/methods. Students are expected to solve
these exercises and, sometimes, even present their solutions to the entire class.
BIOSTATISTICAL METHODS I 2 of 4
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
All students are expected to attend class regularly. As a courtesy to both your instructor and
your classmates, please DO NOT be late.
Working together on homework is very much encouraged, but all write-ups must be done independently
and clearly indicate the submitter’s understanding of the material.
The in-class exams should be an individual effort, but the final project will be a group
assignment. The instructor will randomly assign groups of 3-4 students and everybody is expected to
participate. In order to emphasize the importance of the team-work (essential for a biostatistician), 10%
of the project grade will count towards your individual participation to the group project.
All assignments turned in after the due date will not be accepted and ‘rewarded’ with a zero grade.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The course covers a large amount of material consisting of lecture notes and code examples. This
syllabus is designed to give an overview of the course layout and a guide for topics to be covered;
please note that the order and the content of the topics may change during the semester.
We will use R and/or SAS for data analysis. All course materials (i.e., lecture notes, assignments, data
sets) will be posted on CourseWorks and on the course website.
MAILMAN SCHOOL POLICIES AND EXPECTATIONS

Students and faculty have a shared commitment to the School’s mission, values and oath.
mailman.columbia.edu/about/mission-history.
Academic Integrity
Students are required to adhere to the Mailman School Honor Code in the student handbook. mailman-
handbook.com/2015/node/165.
Disability Access
In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations, students must first be registered with
the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Students who have, or think they may have a disability are
invited to contact ODS for a confidential discussion at 212.854.2388 (V) 212.854.2378 (TTY), or by
email at [email protected]. If you have already registered with ODS, please speak to your
instructor to ensure that s/he has been notified of your recommended accommodations by Lillian
Morales ([email protected]), the School’s liaison to the Office of Disability Services.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week Date Topic
1 Sep. 5 Introduction to Biostatistics: Types of Data, Study Designs
2 Sep. 7 Descriptive Statistics
3 Sep. 12 Basic Probability Concept and Common Distributions (1)
4 Sep. 14 Basic Probability Concept and Common Distributions (2)
5 Sep. 19 Methods of Inference for One-Sample Mean
6 Sep. 21 Methods of Inference for Two-Sample Means
7 Sep. 26 Methods of Inference for 3+ Sample Means
8 Sep. 28 Methods of Inference for One-Proportion
9 Oct. 3 Methods of Inference for Two-Proportions
10 Oct. 5 Measures of Association for Categorical Data
11 Oct. 10 Review 1
12 Oct. 12 EXAM 1
13 Oct. 17 Correlation and Simple Linear Regression (SLR)
14 Oct. 19 Estimation and Inference in SLR
15 Oct. 24 Multiple Linear Regression (MLR)
16 Oct. 26 ANOVA Testing in MLR
17 Oct. 31 Model Diagnostics MLR
18 Nov. 2 Model Selection and Validation in MLR
19 Nov. 7 NO CLASS
20 Nov. 9 ‘Non-Linear’ Models: Regression Splines and Polynomials
21 Nov. 14 Full-Rank and Less Than Full-Rank Models
Missing Data in Linear Regression Framework
22 Nov. 16 Review 2
23 Nov. 21 EXAM 2
24 Nov. 23 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
25 Nov. 28 Introduction to Mixed Models (1)
26 Nov. 30 Introduction to Mixed Models (2)
27 Dec. 5 Introduction to Survival Analysis (1)
28 Dec. 7 Introduction to Survival Analysis (2)
Last Day of Class
29 Dec. 15 Final Project DUE

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P8130 - BIOSTATISTICAL METHODS I

Department of Biostatistics Fall 2017

ASSESSMENT AND GRADING POLICY

The closed-book exams will be held in-class on:

Classroom participation is important! A continuous dialogue between students and instructor is

MAILMAN SCHOOL POLICIES AND EXPECTATIONS

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