Introduction to Data Science in Biostatistics

Thomas W. MacFarland, Ed.D., is senior research associate (Office of Institutional Effectiveness) and associate professor (College of Computing and Engineering) at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. MacFarland maintains an active research agenda, using R for data organization, statistical analyses, and graphical presentations.

• 1. Emergence of Data Science as a Critical Discipline in Biostatistics.- 2. Data Sources in Biostatistics.- 3. Role of Statistics for Decision Making in Biostatistics.- 4. Data Science and R, Base R, and the tidyverse Ecosystem.- 5. Statistical Analyses and Graphical Presentations in Biostatistics Using Base R and the tidyverse Ecosystem.- 6. Use of R-Based APIs to Obtain Data.- 7. Putting It All Together: R, the tidyverse Ecosystem, and APIs.

“The book is well illustrated and includes input (in green) and output (in red) of sessions in the projects. The charts produced by the graphical tools are readable and serve as models for exploratory graphics. The data files are large zip files that can be downloaded from the publisher using the included uniform resource locators (URLs). The wealth of projects and the guidance provided to users would make this book very useful in advanced-level practicum/lab courses.” (Anthony J. Duben, Computing Reviews, March 13, 2025)