01.
Data Types, Distributions & Descriptive Statistics
- Data basics & formats: CSV, Excel, SPSS (.sav), variables, and column structuring
- Variable types: numerical vs. categorical (ICD codes, Age, BMI)
- Distributions: the normal curve and the 68–95 empirical rule
- Central tendency & spread: mean, median, mode, variance, SD, and IQR
- Normality testing: Shapiro–Wilk, histograms, and Q–Q plots
- Univariate reporting: Mean ± SD vs. Median [IQR]
- Hands-on: extract and audit baseline tables from 3 published papers
