Page 30 - Recommendations-for-biostatisticians-in-managing-and-conducting-medical-research-consultations

6.1 A concerted effort to continuously seeking for

new knowledge and skill sets

It is indeed true that what we have learnt from our formal education such as those
statistical modules taught in most undergraduate or postgraduate courses will probably
not be sufficient. These taught modules in statistics have a limited scope which may not be
commensurate with the actual requirements for a new research proposal. Therefore, it
becomes necessary for a competent biostatistician to continuously pursue individual
learning to empower themselves with additional knowledge and also to upgrade
themselves with all the relevant skills at the same time.

These knowledge areas which a biostatistician should focus on are listed in Table 1. In
general, some of the most common types of research problems for which a biostatistical
consultation are actively sought are related to the selection of a suitable study design, the
calculation of a minimum sample size, the development and validation of a questionnaire,
the sampling technique and procedure, the data management, the statistical analysis and
interpretation, and the presentation of results.