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Review
. 2017 Jun 14;3(6):e1700768.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1700768. eCollection 2017 Jun.

Statistical thinking for 21st century scientists

D R Cox  1 , Bradley Efron  2
Affiliations
Review

Statistical thinking for 21st century scientists

D R Cox et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

Statistical science provides a wide range of concepts and methods for studying situations subject to unexplained variability. Such considerations enter fields ranging from particle physics and astrophysics to genetics, sociology and economics, and beyond; to associated areas of application such as engineering, agriculture, and medicine, in particular in clinical trials. Successful application hinges on absorption of statistical thinking into the subject matter and, hence, depends strongly on the field in question and on the individual investigators. It is the job of theoretical statisticians both to be alive to the challenges of specific applications and, at the same time, to develop methods and concepts that, with good fortune, will be broadly applicable.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Two thousand bootstrap replications of difference between AML and ALL proportional hazards coefficients.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Observed proportion P of malignant nodes for 522 patients having P > 0; 322 patients (38%) had P = 0, as indicated by the large dot.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Estimated prior density for frailty parameter θ, with median value θ = 0.09.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Posterior probabilities of frailty parameter θ for three hypothetical patients.
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