StatsDirect

Last updated
StatsDirect
Developer(s) StatsDirect Ltd
Stable release
Ver. 3.2.7 / May 30, 2019;4 years ago (2019-05-30)
Operating system Windows
Type Statistical analysis
License proprietary
Website www.statsdirect.com

StatsDirect is a statistical software package designed for biomedical, public health, and general health science uses. The second generation of the software was reviewed in general medical [1] and public health journals. [2]

Contents

Features and use

StatsDirect's interface is menu driven and has editors for spreadsheet-like data and reports. The function library includes common medical statistical methods that can be extended by users via an XML-based description that can embed calls to native StatsDirect numerical libraries, R scripts, or algorithms in any of the .NET languages (such as C#, VB.Net, J#, or F#). [3]

Common statistical misconceptions are challenged by the interface. For example, users can perform a chi-square test on a two-by-two table, but they are asked whether the data are from a cohort (perspective) or case-control (retrospective) study before delivering the result. Both processes produce a chi-square test result but more emphasis is put on the appropriate statistic for the inference, which is the odds ratio for retrospective studies and relative risk for prospective studies. [4]

Origins

Professor Iain Buchan, formerly of the University of Manchester, wrote a doctoral thesis on the foundational work and is credited as the creator of the software. [5] Buchan said he wished to address the problem of clinicians lacking the statistical knowledge to select and interpret statistical functions correctly, and often misusing software written by and for statisticians as a result.[ citation needed ]

The software debuted in 1989 as Arcus, then Arcus ProStat in 1993, both written for the DOS platform. [6] Arcus Quickstat for Windows followed in 1999. [7] In 2000, an expanded version, StatsDirect, was released for Microsoft Windows. [1] In 2013, the third generation of this software was released, written in C# for the .NET platform. [3]

StatsDirect reports embed the metadata necessary to replay calculations, which may be needed if the original data is ever updated. The reproducible report technology follows the research object approach for replaying in "eLabs". [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software</span> Non-tangible executable component of a computer

Software is a collection of programs and data that tell a computer how to perform specific tasks. Software often includes associated software documentation. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embedded system</span> Computer system with a dedicated function

An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including electrical or electronic hardware and mechanical parts. Because an embedded system typically controls physical operations of the machine that it is embedded within, it often has real-time computing constraints. Embedded systems control many devices in common use. In 2009, it was estimated that ninety-eight percent of all microprocessors manufactured were used in embedded systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debugger</span> Computer program used to test and debug other programs

A debugger or debugging tool is a computer program used to test and debug other programs. The main use of a debugger is to run the target program under controlled conditions that permit the programmer to track its execution and monitor changes in computer resources that may indicate malfunctioning code. Typical debugging facilities include the ability to run or halt the target program at specific points, display the contents of memory, CPU registers or storage devices, and modify memory or register contents in order to enter selected test data that might be a cause of faulty program execution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VxWorks</span> Real-time operating system

VxWorks is a real-time operating system developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, deterministic performance and, in many cases, safety and security certification for industries such as aerospace, defense, medical devices, industrial equipment, robotics, energy, transportation, network infrastructure, automotive, and consumer electronics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embedded operating system</span> Type of computer operating system

An embedded operating system is an operating system for embedded computer systems. They are designed to increase functionality and reliability for achieving a specific task. Depending on the method used for computer multitasking, this type of operating system might be considered a real-time operating system (RTOS).

In-circuit emulation (ICE) is the use of a hardware device or in-circuit emulator used to debug the software of an embedded system. It operates by using a processor with the additional ability to support debugging operations, as well as to carry out the main function of the system. Particularly for older systems, with limited processors, this usually involved replacing the processor temporarily with a hardware emulator: a more powerful although more expensive version. It was historically in the form of bond-out processor which has many internal signals brought out for the purpose of debugging. These signals provide information about the state of the processor.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to software engineering:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Shneiderman</span> American computer scientist

Ben Shneiderman is an American computer scientist, a Distinguished University Professor in the University of Maryland Department of Computer Science, which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the founding director (1983-2000) of the University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab. He conducted fundamental research in the field of human–computer interaction, developing new ideas, methods, and tools such as the direct manipulation interface, and his eight rules of design.

This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to software engineering.

Clinical study design is the formulation of trials and experiments, as well as observational studies in medical, clinical and other types of research involving human beings. The goal of a clinical study is to assess the safety, efficacy, and / or the mechanism of action of an investigational medicinal product (IMP) or procedure, or new drug or device that is in development, but potentially not yet approved by a health authority. It can also be to investigate a drug, device or procedure that has already been approved but is still in need of further investigation, typically with respect to long-term effects or cost-effectiveness.

Medcin, is a system of standardized medical terminology, a proprietary medical vocabulary and was developed by Medicomp Systems, Inc. MEDCIN is a point-of-care terminology, intended for use in Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, and it includes over 280,000 clinical data elements encompassing symptoms, history, physical examination, tests, diagnoses and therapy. This clinical vocabulary contains over 38 years of research and development as well as the capability to cross map to leading codification systems such as SNOMED CT, CPT, ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM, DSM, LOINC, CDT, CVX, and the Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System for nursing and allied health.

Web-based simulation (WBS) is the invocation of computer simulation services over the World Wide Web, specifically through a web browser. Increasingly, the web is being looked upon as an environment for providing modeling and simulation applications, and as such, is an emerging area of investigation within the simulation community.

The Zambia Electronic Perinatal Record System (ZEPRS) is an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system used by public obstetric clinics and a hospital in Lusaka, Zambia.

StatView is a statistics application originally released for Apple Macintosh computers in 1985.

Rattle GUI is a free and open source software package providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for data mining using the R statistical programming language. Rattle is used in a variety of situations. Currently there are 15 different government departments in Australia, in addition to various other organisations around the world, which use Rattle in their data mining activities and as a statistical package.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Buchan</span> British public health physician and data scientist

Iain Edward Buchan is a public health physician, data scientist and academic. He holds the W.H. Duncan Chair of Public Health Systems and is Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Liverpool.

References

  1. 1 2 Freemantle, Nick (16 December 2000). "CD: StatsDirect---Statistical Software for Medical Research in the 21st Century". BMJ. 321 (7275): 1536. doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7275.1536. S2CID   62184308.
  2. Lipp, Alastair (1 September 2002). "Stats Direct". Journal of Public Health. 24 (3): 242. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/24.3.242 .
  3. 1 2 "StatsDirect Technologies". StatsDirect Ltd. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  4. Davis, Cole (2013). Statistical Testing in Practice with StatsDirect. ISBN   978-1605944500.
  5. Buchan, Iain Edward. "The Development of a Statistical Computer Software Resource for Medical Research (MD Thesis)" (PDF). University of Liverpool. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  6. Adler, Eric (March 1994). "Arcus Pro-Stat 3 (Short Reviews)". Personal Computer World: 306.
  7. Sachdev, Harshi (October 1999). "Arcus Quickstat (Multimedia Review)". Indian Pediatrics. 36 (10): 1075–1076.
  8. Bechhofer, Sean; Buchan, Iain; De Roure, David; Missier, Paolo; Ainsworth, John; Bhagat, Jiten; Couch, Philip; Cruickshank, Don; Delderfield, Mark; Dunlop, Ian; Gamble, Matthew; Michaelides, Danius; Owen, Stuart; Newman, David; Sufi, Shoaib; Goble, Carole (2013). "Why linked data is not enough for scientists" (PDF). Future Generation Computer Systems. 29 (2): 599–611. doi:10.1016/j.future.2011.08.004.