Making Sense of Statistics for Family Practitioners: "Ready to Explore"

Abstract

Meticulous preparation and an intimate knowledge of available equipment and techniques, characterize most successful expeditions or adventures, whether they be the treacherous climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the arduous swim across the English Channel or nerve-wracking analysis of one's first data-set. Being confronted by a large number of measurements can be intimidating and attempts at analysis an utter waste of time unless a systematic approach is adopted. An important first exploratory step before launching into the production of florid graphics, is to convert data into a simple presentation form that allows insightful "eye-balling". We have already introduced the concept of discrete data with its distinct categories,e.g. male and female. These categories are useful for constructing tables and we will discuss the immense value of well-constructed tables for analysing and communicating data in the next article in this series.