Greenhouse J B, Junker B W
Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1992 Oct;17(5):423-41. doi: 10.1016/0306-4530(92)90001-n.
This article introduces statistical methods for describing and summarizing the results of studies and introduces statistical principles that will guide the psychiatric researcher in the evaluation and interpretation of clinical research. We discuss relatively easy-to-use and informal methods for describing and comparing data. Our aim is to develop methods for investigating relationships among variables, to learn about the effect of one variable upon another. Once we have observed an apparent relationship between variables, an important question to be addressed is whether or not this observed relationship is causal in the sense that a change in one variable causes a changes in the other. We discuss and illustrate principles related to the evaluation of the nature of the association among variables. Throughout the article, principles and methods will be illustrated by examples and case studies based on data sets primarily from the psychiatric research literature.
本文介绍了用于描述和总结研究结果的统计方法，并介绍了将指导精神科研究人员评估和解释临床研究的统计原则。我们讨论了用于描述和比较数据的相对易于使用的非正式方法。我们的目标是开发用于研究变量之间关系的方法，以了解一个变量对另一个变量的影响。一旦我们观察到变量之间存在明显的关系，一个需要解决的重要问题是，从一个变量的变化导致另一个变量的变化这个意义上来说，这种观察到的关系是否具有因果关系。我们讨论并举例说明了与评估变量之间关联性质相关的原则。在整篇文章中，原则和方法将通过主要来自精神科研究文献的数据集的示例和案例研究来说明。
