When answering the question “What is involved in the field of biostatistics?”, many automatically think of the field of statistics. While there are many similarities, these two are also different. This overview will tell you what this field all entails, how it differs from statistics and what a biostatistician does.
What is Biostatistics?
If one were to look up biostatistics in the dictionary, he or she might find it described as a division of statistics that deals with data relating to living organisms. Since the prefix “bio” means living, that definition would be correct, but there is a lot more to this field. Biostatistics applies statistics to a wide range of biology topics. It deals a lot with biology, medicine, and public health. It’s widely used in the medical industry, particularly in research. A biostatistician’s main job is using statistical methods and theories to obtain, analyze and interpret data to solve problems in the biological and health sciences.
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Biostatistics vs. Statistics
As stated above, these two fields are very similar because statistics are used by those working in the field of biostatistics. One major difference is that while biostatisticians deal with subject matter and data, statisticians put more importance on mathematical theories. Biostatisticians use data, and statisticians use numbers. However, they are very closely linked together. A student who is pursuing a master’s degree to become a biostatistician will be taking many courses dealing with statistics. As far as jobs go, they are very similar, and U.S. News & World Report ranks statistician as the #1 best business job for 2018.
Another example to show their differences is with students wanting careers in each of these fields. The student wanting a career as a biostatistician would find a biostatistician program through the college’s biostatistics department, which is in the college’s school of medicine or school of public health. A student wanting a career as a statistician would find the program through the statistics department, which is part of the school’s college of arts and science.
What a Biostatistician Does
Although it can be said that biostatisticians do many things, the simplest way to answer this question is by saying they make sense of data and then turn that data into knowledge. One example of what a biostatistician does can be found in the medical field with the study of genome sequencing. Genome sequencing is the process of determining the DNA sequence of an organism’s genome. This is used to link genetic variants with certain diseases. Research doctors can then use this information to prevent genetic diseases or at least know when they’re present in someone’s DNA.
Another example would be the study of how people get the common cold. They may have 50 people go outside in inclement weather to see how many will get a cold afterward and how many will remain unaffected. They put all that data together to determine the association between exposure to cold weather and getting sick. It’s not unusual to find a biostatistician working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a survey of the best master’s degrees to get for jobs, Forbes ranked this field number one. An individual working in biostatistics may find work in government agencies, universities, agricultural firms, medical corporations and pharmaceutical companies to name a few. Because all of these agencies or companies typically pay higher wages, the field of biostatistics is becoming very much in demand.
