Bonny P. McClain: Improving Numeracy in Medicine

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Cover: Improving Numeracy in Medicine by Bonny P. McClain

IMPROVING NUMERACY IN MEDICINE
Bonny P. McClain, MSc, DC
Data & Donuts, December 15, 2015, $14.99, paper; $9.99 Kindle
ASIN: B015ELRVW4

McClain reports:

According to Karl Pearson, British mathematician and arguably the father of modern statistics, statistics is the grammar of science.

The idea for Improving Numeracy in Medicine evolved from dozens of conversations I had at the 2015 National Health Statistics conference, BMJ Medical Investigative Journalism conference, and other conferences including the Lown, National Physician Alliance, and Preventing Overdiagnosis.

The central thesis in many of these conversations: data.

Experts described how data is used to mislead, misinform, or sensationalize research findings or industry objectives. A cardiology resident told me, "We don't get much numeracy in our medical education."

Bonny P. McClain

I decided to create a tool that might ameliorate the confusion.

We don't need another statistics or biostatistics book. I can recommend dozens. My aim is to provide an accessible guide to the statistics books already on our shelves, a companion book we can use to illuminate the imperfect world of prediction and analyses.

Highlights from recent peer-reviewed manuscripts anchor discussions of the most common elements of descriptive and inferential statistics. What is a hazard ratio? How do you determine effect size? Number needed to treat? Number needed to harm? Number needed to screen? If clinical literature is truly the foundation of evidence-based medicine, why is it written for statisticians?

Journalists as well as scientists face many challenges in reporting medical research findings. Knowing what questions to ask when you review clinical data will help to improve the quality of your healthcare coverage. What is the finding? What does the finding mean? Could the finding be wrong?

My goal with this book is to ask questions. I want to create a conversation. Because this topic is timely, I opted for the immediacy of self-publication. Let's get the conversation started — one datum at a time.

Contact info:

Bonny McClain, 336-549-8484, bonny@graphemeconsulting.info, Bonny@dataanddonuts.org
Blogs: http://www.dataanddonuts.org; http://www.alzheimersdiseasethebrand.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/graphemeconsult, https://twitter.com/dataanddonuts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dataanddonuts/

NASW members: will your book be published soon? Take advantage of this opportunity for shameless self-promotion. Submit your report for Advance Copy.

Tell your fellow NASW members how you came up with the idea for your book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and put the book together. Include what you wish you had known before you began working on your book, or had done differently.

See https://www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines.

Thinking of writing a book? If you are a NASW member, you may access a list of more than 150 books and online resources to help you craft your book proposal, find an agent and funding sources, negotiate your contract, learn about self-publishing, publicize and market your book, and more at https://www.nasw.org/article/write-book.

Send book info and questions about book publishing to Lynne Lamberg, NASW book editor, llamberg@nasw.org.

Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines for information on submitting your report.

Publication of NASW author reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of any publication or the ideas, values, or material contained within or espoused by authors or their books. We hope this column stimulates productive discussions on important topics now and in the future as both science and societies progress. We welcome your discussion in the comments section below.