Constantine Gatsonis - Böcker

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is the generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor a clinical condition or to improve the delivery of care (IOM 2009). CER is conducted to develop evidence that will aid patients, clinicians, purchasers, and health policy makers in making informed decisions at both the individual and population levels. CER encompasses a very broad range of types of studies—experimental, observational, prospective, retrospective, and research synthesis. This volume covers the main areas of quantitative methodology for the design and analysis of CER studies. The volume has four major sections—causal inference; clinical trials; research synthesis; and specialized topics. The audience includes CER methodologists, quantitative-trained researchers interested in CER, and graduate students in statistics, epidemiology, and health services and outcomes research. The book assumes a masters-level course in regression analysis and familiarity with clinical research.

The past few years have witnessed dramatic advances in computational methods for Bayesian inference. As a result, Bayesian approaches to solving a wide variety of problems in data analysis and decision-making have become feasible, and there is currently a growth spurt in the application of Bayesian methods. The purpose of this volume is to present several detailed examples of applications of Bayesian thinking, with an emphasis on the scientific or technological context of the problem being solved. The papers collected here were presented and discussed at a Workshop held at Carnegie-Mellon University, September 29 through October 1, 1991. There are five ma­ jor articles, each with two discussion pieces and a reply. These articles were invited by us following a public solicitation of abstracts. The problems they address are diverse, but all bear on policy decision-making. Though not part of our original design for the Workshop, that commonality of theme does emphasize the usefulness of Bayesian meth­ ods in this arena. Along with the invited papers were several additional commentaries of a general nature; the first comment was invited and the remainder grew out of the discussion at the Workshop. In addition there are nine contributed papers, selected from the thirty-four presented at the Workshop, on a variety of applications. This collection of case studies illustrates the ways in which Bayesian methods are being incorporated into statistical practice. The strengths (and limitations) of the approach become apparent through the examples.

Like its predecessor, this second volume presents detailed applications of Bayesian statistical analysis, each of which emphasizes the scientific context of the problems it attempts to solve. The emphasis of this volume is on biomedical applications. These papers were presented at a workshop at Carnegie-Mellon University in 1993.

This third volume of case studies presents detailed applications of Bayesian statistical analysis, emphasizing the scientific context. The papers were presented and discussed at a workshop at Carnegie-Mellon University in October, 1995. In this volume, which is dedicated to the memory of Morrie Groot, econometric applications are highlighted. There are six invited papers, each with accompanying invited discussion, and nine contributed papers.

The series of workshops Case Studies in Bayesian Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University is unique in devoting an entire meeting to extended presentation and discussion of scientific investigations in which statisticians play central roles within integrated, cross- disciplinary teams. The goal has been to elucidate the interplay between Bayesian theory and practice, and thereby identify successful methods and indicate important directions for future research. This volume contains the four invited case studies, with accompanying discussion, and nine contributed papers, from the 4th workshop, which was held September 27-28, 1997. While most of the case studies in this volume come from biomedical research, the reader will also find studies in environmental science and marketing research. Students and teachers of statistics, research statisticians, and investigators from other fields should find a wealth of ideas and methods in this series of case studies.

The 6th Workshop on Case Studies in Bayesian Statistics was held at the Carnegie Mellon University in October, 2001. This volume contains the invited case studies with the accompanying discussion as well as contributed papers selected by a refereeing process.

While most of the case studies in this volume come from biomedical research, the reader will also find studies in environmental science and marketing research. The 4th Workshop on Case Studies in Bayesian Statistics was held at Carnegie-Mellon University September 27-28, 1997. As in the past, the workshop featured both invited and contributed case studies. The former were presented in detail while the latter were presented in poster format. This volume contains the four invited case studies with the accompanying discussion as well as nine contributed papers selected by a refereeing process.

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is the generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor a clinical condition or to improve the delivery of care (IOM 2009). CER is conducted to develop evidence that will aid patients, clinicians, purchasers, and health policy makers in making informed decisions at both the individual and population levels. CER encompasses a very broad range of types of studies—experimental, observational, prospective, retrospective, and research synthesis. This volume covers the main areas of quantitative methodology for the design and analysis of CER studies. The volume has four major sections—causal inference; clinical trials; research synthesis; and specialized topics. The audience includes CER methodologists, quantitative-trained researchers interested in CER, and graduate students in statistics, epidemiology, and health services and outcomes research. The book assumes a masters-level course in regression analysis and familiarity with clinical research.

This book presents a unified and up-to-date introduction to ROC methodologies, covering both diagnosis (classification) and prediction. The emphasis is on the conceptual underpinning of ROC analysis and the practical implementation in diverse scientific fields. A plethora of examples accompany the methodologic discussion using standard statistical software such as R and STATA. The book arrives after two decades of intensive growth in both the methods and the applications of ROC analysis and presents a new synthesis. The authors provide a contemporary, integrated exposition of ROC methodology for both classification and prediction and include material on multiple-class ROC. This book avoids lengthy technical exposition and provides code and datasets in each chapter. ROC Analysis for Classification and Prediction in Practice is intended for researchers and graduate students, but will also be useful for those that use ROC analysis in diverse disciplines such as diagnostic medicine, bioinformatics, medical physics, and perception psychology.

The Handbook of Health Services Research is a reference for all aspects of the field of health services and outcomes research.