The book is comprehensive for an introductory biostatistics course in health sciences. The breadth and the depth of the covered topics are appropriate for the upper undergraduate health science students. The book is also comprehensive for a lower. read more
Reviewed by Aylin Marz, Associate Professor, Norfolk State University on 5/31/23
Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less
The book is comprehensive for an introductory biostatistics course in health sciences. The breadth and the depth of the covered topics are appropriate for the upper undergraduate health science students. The book is also comprehensive for a lower undergraduate level course for biology majors or as a supplement to upper undergraduate biology majors laboratory courses.
There are no issues with the accuracy of descriptions or examples provided within the text.
Relevance/Longevity rating: 5
The content is basic statistics and therefore will remain relevant for a long time after its publication date of 2023. Any updates on content would include examples and exercises. The book is sufficiently modular for such future updates to occur easily.
Clarity rating: 5
The text is written in a clear and concise manner. There are definitions of the key terminology and concepts provided in separate sections that helps with clarity.
Consistency rating: 5
The text is consistent in its use of terminology, set of examples provided, as well as the organization of ideas and content within each chapter.
Modularity rating: 5
The text is divided into chapters each of which is divided into multiple consecutive sections.
Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5
The organization of topics into chapters and sections within each chapter follow a logical order starting with easier concepts and building onto more difficult ones that rely on an understanding of the earlier concepts.
Interface rating: 3
The text part of the book has no interface issues in the online or in the pdf version. Text and figures display properly and are organized well for both online and pdf content. However, the simulation Applet that is embedded in the book and is needed for all Exercises does not work and gives and error message in the online format of the textbook in every exercise in every chapter. The simulation Applet does not pop up in the pdf version so it does not work in that version of the book either. If the issue is a technical one it needs to get fixed. If the issue is lack of guidance on how to make the Applet work, that guidance needs to be provided. The idea of having the simulation exercises is excellent but the current interfaces are not working for this simulation Applet.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5
The text contains no grammatical errors.
Cultural Relevance rating: 5
The text is culturally neutral.
This is an excellent book that clearly explains some complex topics in a way that students can understand. The examples are really good and relevant. The simulation Applet (once it is fixed) will provide a wonderful way of experimenting to help students better understand and master the statistics concepts described.
"An Intuitive, Interactive Introduction to Biostatistics" is an introductory statistics textbook oriented towards towards undergraduate students in the health sciences. While covering the breadth of material typically presented in a first semester statistics course, including introductions to probability and distributions, study design, CLT, hypothesis testing, and inference, IIIB distinguishes itself with its focus on cultivating student intuition through the use of guided questions and interactive simulation-based applets. Written in R, this open-source text has been created with customizability in mind, offering instructors maximal flexibility in arranging and modifying the content.
Caitlin E. Ward, University of Iowa Nursing
Collin Nolte, University of Iowa
