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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics by University of Cape Town

4.8
stars
3,310 ratings

About the Course

If you’ve ever skipped over the results section of a medical paper because terms like “confidence interval” or “p-value” go over your head, then you’re in the right place. You may be a clinical practitioner reading research articles to keep up-to-date with developments in your field or a medical student wondering how to approach your own research. Greater confidence in understanding statistical analysis and the results can benefit both working professionals and those undertaking research themselves. If you are simply interested in properly understanding the published literature or if you are embarking on conducting your own research, this course is your first step. It offers an easy entry into interpreting common statistical concepts without getting into nitty-gritty mathematical formulae. To be able to interpret and understand these concepts is the best way to start your journey into the world of clinical literature. That’s where this course comes in - so let’s get started! The course is free to enroll and take. You will be offered the option of purchasing a certificate of completion which you become eligible for, if you successfully complete the course requirements. This can be an excellent way of staying motivated! Financial Aid is also available....

Top reviews

AM

Dec 15, 2018

Klopper MD is a great teacher. There are other courses from another top universities about this topic, but I think this is my favourite. This the shortest in duration and most comprehensive among all.

MA

Jul 30, 2023

One of best teacher i have seen in my entire life. course is well designed and explained. Force me to learn alot especially through finding research papers and finding concepts in them. love you sir.

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51 - 75 of 994 Reviews for Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics

By Mykhailo T

May 1, 2020

A beautifully designed course that improved my ability to orient myself in the results section of biomedical papers. The course covers a lot of material and is focused on giving insights into general principles the what's and why's in statistical analysis. Therefore, I would recommend it to both students and researchers aspired to gain a better understanding of data analysis in medical research. Without correct data interpretation using statistics, it worths almost nothing.

By Evan L

Dec 7, 2021

Overall excellent, but it would be helpful if Dr. Klopper goes further when he pulls up a peer-reviewed article. For example, when discussing Sens/Spec he uses an article on pancreatitis, but then goes on to create a hypothetical table. Why not use the data he works with (specifically, the 64% sensitivity and 97% specificity) to create a table, of say, 1000 patients. It would be easier to follow as the student could relate the concept immediately to the article at hand.

By George L

Feb 18, 2021

I highly recommend this course. During my time In pharmacy school, journal club presentations felt like an obligation instead of a learning opportunity. I used to report studies instead of discussing the studies. As a Medical Information expert, taking this course has sharpened my ability to critically analyze scientific studies. The course certainly did not make me a statistician. However, it made me the pharmacist who can question the study design and the statistics.

By Pia B

Jan 3, 2021

During my Bachelor and Master degree studies I´ve participated in many statistic courses at the University, BUT this course "Understanding Clinical Research:Behind the Statistics" was the first one that really helped me to undertstand statistics and the thory behind. After this course I really feel confident doing statistical analysis of my data sets. Congratulations to Dr. Juan H. Klopper for this amazing course. It was always interesting and fun to listenten to you.

By Vandana S

Apr 13, 2021

This course is a great start to understand the basic biostatistics , especially for researchers/ graduate students, who will most likely use biostatistics for their data.

The course instructor explains each and every point in detail and in a very understandable language. The practice tests/ quizzes greatly enhance one's knowledge and also provide feedback.

Overall, the course is very nicely structured in a stepwise manner and will benefit the learners.

By Frans U D

Dec 18, 2018

This is one of the best Online Course I have ever joined fully until completion.I absolutely recommend this course to my friends and anyone else in the area of Public Health, Medicine even Veterinary Medicine.There is so much to learn for so little time but Dr Juan is absolutely amazing in his way of handling this course that made it look simple and he has truly made it so much easier to comprehend. So much better than learning from Statistical textbooks

By Elisea A

May 4, 2020

I found it very useful to have written notes after the explain videos (since English is not my first language, sometimes it is easier for me to understand written things). Also, I think that the exams were very accurate to test my knowledge since all the questions were applied to practice and not just theory questions. I think that now I definitely have a better understanding of the papers I read. The most important topics were covered in this course.

By Diego E F

Apr 5, 2020

An excellent course, definitely the perfect introduction to understand the methodology in medicine and dentistry journals. It´s also a course that motivates you to delve into the beautiful field of statistics.

Un curso excelente, definitivamente es la introducción perfecta para entender, de mejor manera, la metodología investigativa en publicaciones periódicas, además es un curso que motiva a profundizar en el bello campo de la estadística.

By Antimo M C

Dec 15, 2017

A thoughtful organization of theoretical knowledge in reasoned lessons that are masterfully performed by an excellent teacher who leads you through the study of Statistics from a very initial understanding of it until its practical implementation. And the icing on the cake... this knowledge is put into practice also making students compare each other while actually let them grow by increasing their awareness towards themselves and the topic.

By Sohaib A

Feb 14, 2020

Dr. Juan Klopper provided concise information in an engaging manner that enabled me to finally understand clinical research. I appreciate his gentle teaching style, and the overall self-pacing system of this program. Keep on doing the good work, sir. This is one course that I would definitely recommend to my peers, so that they also may develop the same understanding of this crucial subject as Dr. Klopper enabled me to. Thank you.

By Misbah T

Mar 9, 2020

After completing the course, I've seen a significant difference in understanding of statistics. I used to skip the section of the statistical analysis in every research paper because the names of the test always goes over my head. Now I can confidently correlate the statistical findings with the given data in the research paper. Thank you Dr. Jaun Klopper for all the valuable information. This course is tremendous.

By Jimena A P

Jun 23, 2020

Me encantó no sólo repasé conceptos básicos de estadística, sino también aprendí nuevos conceptos que nunca entendía cuando leía artículos científicos en investigación con humanos. Está muy intuitivo y simple lo que te permite aprender la información y no olvidar detalles. Lo único que mejoraría es un poco la ortografía y la redacción ya que solían haber varios errores que llegaron a confundirme en algunos temas.

By Rosa A

Mar 11, 2021

Exactly as the title says, everything about research articles and their statistical analysis is explained without involving mathematics. The pacing of the course is excellent and is not overwhelming. The explanations are easy to understand and there are plenty of examples. The quiz and assignments are not too demanding, just enough to establish that you have understood the material. Overall excellent course!

By Anna K

Nov 4, 2019

The course is very helpful to those who work in clinical trials but do not have a mathematical background. I am a former biology student, we had a course in biostatistics. Many subjects were similar, but we were never given examples from clinical trials. It was great to have this refresher course and deepen my knowledge in clinical statistics. I am very grateful to the creators of this course. Thank you!

By Coby S

Apr 25, 2017

The course has addressed all the fundamentals and has given me direction and the information I required as a person that is not in the medical field, making it easy for further research. Some additional numerical examples in the keynotes would have added great value. The use of actual journal articles added a practical twist to the theory and applications of statistics. I am proud te be South Afriv

By Mohammed Q

Nov 5, 2018

This is a great course for workers in the medical field and health sciences, it assumes no prior knowledge in statistics and proceeds with step by step intuitive explanation of concepts with virtually no math. It has great optional practical videos on how to search for papers online and how to do statistical tests using spreadsheets software. It is quite through in scope, recommend it strongly.

By Nivedha M S

Jul 4, 2020

This is one of the best courses available on Coursera to understand Statistics. Thanks to Prof. Juan Klopper for this amazing course. The assignments especially were really useful. This is a very engaging course and any learner would definitely stay motivated until the end. I would also like to appreciate the high-quality content and the ease with which it was explained. Thank you so much!

By Deleted A

Aug 6, 2019

The course highlights the most important concepts on statistics for students beginning in Health research, helping us interpret the data in published papers. We also learn to decide which tests to choose when analyzing our data. As a bonus, we end up curious about how to calculate the statistics - and I've heard when a class gives you more questions than answers, so it's reached its goals.

By Veera G Y

Jan 10, 2021

This is such a wonderful course that gives you an overview and detailed understanding about the key statistic terms we encounter in medical literature. The way they designed the practice tests and the idea of clinical paper based practice assignments is laudable. Definitely recommended for basic science and clinical science researchers who want to brush through fundamentals of statistics.

By Owais A K

Apr 7, 2018

A wonderfully constructed, practically oriented course! The instruction is lucid, the flow of topics logical and the quizzes helpful for showcasing real-world application of the concepts taught. Would HIGHLY recommend it to all those interested in understanding the logic behind statistical analyses and tests. Thank you for a wonderful course experience Dr. Juan and the entire team!

By Андрей Л

May 20, 2020

Hello! It is an amazing course! After I completed it, I firstly repeatedly listen to some lectures on statistics from my previous courses. I really understand them more than earlier. I think that this course is really able to improve your current knowledge and understanding of statistical issues. So, the name of this course is absolutely correct. Thank you, Mr. Juan H. Klopper!

By Olga M

Mar 27, 2021

Very informative, beautifully designed and well stractured course, with short, to the point lectures and reading material and assignements and quizes designed to test the understanding of the subject. Highly recommended as for anyone who wants to be able to understand the terms and statistics in clinical research without the mathematical analysis. Thank you Dr. Juan!

By Carlos M

Jun 26, 2021

Wow, it's amazing how Dr. Klopper gets to explain complex principles such as z-distribution and p-values in a practical, pedagogical and easy way to understand. Thank you so much to Dr. Klopper and the Coursera team for this opportunity, that even though sometimes could be tough, it was an amazing opportunity tolearn and reinforce concepts about medical statistics.

By cindy w

Jun 27, 2018

I appreciate good framing of this course. In order to benefit reviewing of the key points of every lessions, the notes of key points are clearly summarized after each video presentation. The medical statistics is very complex for a new learner, I am very grateful to have the chance to join this lesson which perfect balances concise and exhaustive for understanding

By Filipe B

Jan 20, 2023

Um curso muito bom para quem, principalmente, já tem uma bagagem de conhecimento, mesmo que básica, sobre saúde baseada em evidências. Eu diria que é essencial, caso você seja iniciante, que tenha um material de suporte paralelo ao curso, para que ele seja proveitoso ao máximo, são assuntos importantíssimos para um entendimento pleno sobre as pesquisas em saúde.