This book outlines the principles and uses of medical statistics and their applications in analysing epidemiological and clinical studies. The initial text describes the different kinds of study designs, the methods for describing and presenting data, and the types of statistical inference. The second half of the book describes how to analyse case-control studies, cohort studies and randomised controlled trials. There are chapters on regression techniques and common pitfalls in statistics and finally appendices on statistical formulae and tables. There are also summary sections and self-assessment exercises.

The book is clearly written with an abundance of examples which help greatly in the understanding of statistical principles. The text is extremely comprehensive, covering classical statistics as well as more recent developments. The major strength of the book is that it shows how epidemiology and statistics are two very much related disciplines in medical research. The book will be of value to those just starting a study of statistics and epidemiology as well as to those with more experience who will find it a valuable reference source. I would thoroughly recommend the book, which is competitively priced.