Cruess D F
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1989 Dec;41(6):619-26. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1989.41.619.
A statistical review of all 201 scientific articles published during the calendar year 1988 in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene was made to determine the type of study published by the journal, the level of statistics that was employed by the published articles, and the extent of common statistical errors. Sixty-five (32%) of the articles were classified as experimental, with most of the remaining observational studies classified as cross-sectional in design. A reader with the knowledge of only simple descriptive statistics would be able to understand 60% of the statistical procedures used in the published papers. Knowledge of the usual components of a single semester course in introductory statistics increases understanding to 91% of the techniques used. It was determined that 148 (73.5%) of the 201 articles had at least 1 detectable statistical error; most of these errors involved improper documentation or application of statistical hypothesis testing. The most common descriptive statistical error was the misuse of the concepts of "standard deviation" and "standard error" which was found in greater than 20% of the articles. Examples of each of the common statistical errors seen are given with suggestions for improvement.
对1988年全年发表在《美国热带医学与卫生杂志》上的201篇科学文章进行了统计回顾，以确定该杂志发表的研究类型、已发表文章所采用的统计水平以及常见统计错误的程度。其中65篇（32%）文章被归类为实验性研究，其余大多数观察性研究在设计上被归类为横断面研究。仅具备简单描述性统计知识的读者能够理解已发表论文中60%的统计程序。掌握统计学入门单学期课程的常见内容后，对所用技术的理解率可提高到91%。经确定，201篇文章中有148篇（73.5%）至少存在1个可检测到的统计错误；这些错误大多涉及统计假设检验的记录不当或应用不当。最常见的描述性统计错误是对“标准差”和“标准误”概念的误用，在超过20%的文章中都有发现。文中给出了每种常见统计错误的示例以及改进建议。
