MPH Master of Public Health (on campus) / Course details

This course is relevant to current or future professionals whose careers will involve either conducting quantitative research or interpreting the findings of quantitative research studies. Statistical analysis of data is a key part of research and many research findings and recommendations are based on the results of statistical analysis. An awareness of statistical methods and the ability to interpret data from published studies is important for a career in public health.

Students choosing Practical Statistics for Population Health will need to be available for the face to face/online teaching sessions that will be in the timetable. These will be delivered on campus at the Univeristy of Manchester as well as online. This is an interactive online course. Students musts work through the online course material. Students are encouraged to use the Blackboard discussion boards to ask questions and check their understanding of the course material. 

This unit is mandatory for the Dental Public Health stream.

The aim of this course unit is to provide students with an understanding of statistics that they can apply within their own professional practice. This could include conducting quantitative research, interpreting the findings of quantitative research studies or applying statistical thinking to public health practice. The course will teach you how to conduct statistical analyses using a statistical package (SPSS or R).

On completion of this unit, successful students will be able to:

• Apply statistical thinking when conducting or reviewing research in professional practice.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between populations, samples and variability in research studies.
• Define different types of data and demonstrate an understanding of confidence intervals and the normal distribution.
• Perform correlation and simple linear regression and interpret the results.
• Construct and interpret multiple regression models and logistic regression models demonstrating an understanding of confounding.
• Demonstrate the use of methods for statistical inference.
• Perform and interpret survival analyses.
• Use a statistical package to analyse a data set

• Introduction to statistical thinking
• Types of data
• Populations and sampling, variability and sample size
• The normal distribution and confidence intervals
• Correlation and simple linear regression
• Multiple regression
• Logistic regression
• Statistical inference for continuous and categorical data
• Survival Analysis
• Statistics in Practice

The course materials are provided via the virtual learning environments Blackboard and Articulate Rise. The course consists of 10 topics and within each topic there is a self-test to complete. There are weekly discussion board topics and the discussion boards are moderated by the course unit leader and teaching assistants. The core text is referenced in each topic, and although you should be able to complete the topic adequately without the core text book we recommend that you obtain a copy as it will help you gain a deeper understanding of the subject. The course can be seen as a tutorial in using a statistical analysis package (SPSS or R) and includes demonstrations of how to carry out statistical tests in these packages.

Distance/blended learning students only - Students on this mode of study will have the opportunity to study synchronously with the on-campus students and asynchronously via recorded sessions and online resources. 

• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between populations, samples and variability in research studies.
• Define different types of data and demonstrate an understanding of confidence intervals and the normal distribution. 

• Perform correlation and simple linear regression and interpret the results.
• Construct and interpret multiple regression models and logistic regression models demonstrating an understanding of confounding.
• Demonstrate the use of methods for statistical inference.
• Perform and interpret survival analyses.

• Use a statistical package to analyse a data set 

• Apply statistical thinking when conducting or reviewing research in professional practice.

Written assignment (reporting the results of statistical analysis of data set). Final assignment worth 100% of marks – 2500 – 3000 words or equivalent.  

If you have any questions about the content of this unit, please contact the course unit leader, Isla Gemmell, via email at isla.gemmell@manchester.ac.uk. If you have any other queries, please contact the PGT programme team at shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk.