Statistics in the Service of Health

Abstract

Introduction: The word statistics was first used to describe a set of aggregated data (commonly demographic observations, such as births and deaths), and later came to also denote the mathematical body of science that pertains to the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data and uncertainty (Davidian & Louis, 2002; Dodge, 2006; Moses, 1986). For those interested in the historical developments in probability and statistics, there are many excellent books and reviews (Fienberg, 1992; Gigerenzer et al., 1989; Stigler, 1986). However, as John Tukey once said, “the best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone else’s backyard” (Leonhardt, 2000). Yet, there has been little systematic work on the impact of the application of statistics in various scientific disciplines.