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Continuing Medical Education examination
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Continuing Medical Education examination
Statistical errors in immunologic research Instructions for category 1 Continuing Medical Education credit The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology is accredited as a provider of Continuing Medical Education (CME) by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Test ID no.: mai0047 Contact hours: 1.0 Expiration date: November 30, 2005 Category 1 credit can be earned by reading the text material and taking this CME examination online. For complete instructions, visit the Journal’s Web site at www.mosby.com/jaci.
Learning objectives: ‘‘Statistical errors in immunologic research’’ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
To recognize the most common errors in reporting statistics in medical journals. To determine appropriate ways to avoid those errors in your own writing. To understand the meaning of a P value. To understand the meaning of power. To be able to determine when to use standard error of the mean and when to use standard deviation.
CME items Question 1. Which of the following best describes what a significant P value tells you? A. that a physiologic change has taken place B. that the null hypothesis is false C. that the difference is greater than you would expect by chance D. that the sample size for your study is too large and should be reduced Question 2. The power of your study is best described as which of the following? A. the ability of your study to detect the proposed change B. one minus the P value (1 – P) C. the ability of your study to reject the null hypothesis if it is true D. the ability of your study to reject the alternative hypothesis if it is true
1264
December 2004
Question 3. If you use standard deviation as a measure of variability, you are interested in the variability of which of the following? A. a mean B. a median C. an interval D. an observation Question 4. Your best protection against making a statistical error in a publication is which of the following? A. Use the correct statistical test. B. Use the appropriate statistical program. C. Check that the data are normally distributed. D. Consult a statistician.
J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL
Continuing Medical Education examination
Statistical errors in immunologic research Instructions for category 1 Continuing Medical Education credit The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology is accredited as a provider of Continuing Medical Education (CME) by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Test ID no.: mai0047 Contact hours: 1.0 Expiration date: November 30, 2005 Category 1 credit can be earned by reading the text material and taking this CME examination online. For complete instructions, visit the Journal’s Web site at www.mosby.com/jaci.
Learning objectives: ‘‘Statistical errors in immunologic research’’ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
To recognize the most common errors in reporting statistics in medical journals. To determine appropriate ways to avoid those errors in your own writing. To understand the meaning of a P value. To understand the meaning of power. To be able to determine when to use standard error of the mean and when to use standard deviation.
CME items Question 1. Which of the following best describes what a significant P value tells you? A. that a physiologic change has taken place B. that the null hypothesis is false C. that the difference is greater than you would expect by chance D. that the sample size for your study is too large and should be reduced Question 2. The power of your study is best described as which of the following? A. the ability of your study to detect the proposed change B. one minus the P value (1 – P) C. the ability of your study to reject the null hypothesis if it is true D. the ability of your study to reject the alternative hypothesis if it is true
1264
December 2004
Question 3. If you use standard deviation as a measure of variability, you are interested in the variability of which of the following? A. a mean B. a median C. an interval D. an observation Question 4. Your best protection against making a statistical error in a publication is which of the following? A. Use the correct statistical test. B. Use the appropriate statistical program. C. Check that the data are normally distributed. D. Consult a statistician.
J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL