Statistics & Research Methods

Course Description

Residents will be provided with the necessary scientific foundation of knowledge and skills required to practice effective “Evidence- based dentistry”. Residents will gain knowledge to form critical questions, locate information, judge the quality of available information, and apply evidence to clinical decision making and ongoing evaluation on both patient care at the individual level and community level. 

Knowledge of basic research design and statistics is important in order to understand the scientific literature that will be read throughout one’s professional career as well as to give one the ability to conduct their own research project. This course surveys basic research design and research methods along with basic descriptive and inferential statistics.

Course Competency

Residents are expected to become knowledgeable in research design, basic statistics and to gain the skills necessary to interpret the results of statistical analyses.

Course Objectives

On successful completion of this course, residents will be able to:

• Critique, synthesize, and apply information from scientific and lay sources to improve oral health.
• Understand basic statistical and research design terms and procedures including IRB processes.
• Formulate appropriate research question and conduct an approved research project

Complete a research paper/poster write-up and present to audience.