[A review of statistical analysis methods in measurement data].

Measurement data, which is obtained by measuring the size of numeric value, is consisted of numerical variables. In clinic research, the collected data covers quite of numerical variables. Composed of those numerical variables, the measurement data has to be correspondingly analyzed in the special statistical methods in the light of their design methods. The statistical methods of measurement data include descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics is mainly used to describe the distribution laws and the characters/features of the data. For instance, when measuring the central tendency and dispersion tendency of the data, methods such as calculating the mean and the standard deviation can be considered. Inferential statistics is mainly employed to estimate the confidence limit such as estimating the 95% confidence interval and to have the hypothesis testing in the example of having t test and analysis of variance. By highlighting the specific statistical methods of measurement data, this review intends to help the clinicians and researchers select correct statistical methods in accordance with measurement data.