May the Stats Be with You

Presentation Description: Statistics are used in many aspects of lab activities, including quality assurance, quality control, calibration, calculation, experimental design, and data analysis. However, most standard operating procedures (SOP) and textbooks focus mainly on definitions and mathematics, with little emphasis on the context and application of statistics. This session aims to discuss the common lab statistics and their applications in a relevant and memorable way to take the audience on a fun journey of discovery of the true intent of lab statistics. For example, why do SOPs specify quality control acceptance ranges, such as percentage recovery and percentage relative difference? Similarly, how are acceptance ranges set for proficiency testing? The session will help the audience connect these questions to statistical concepts such as central tendency and spread. In addition, what is hypothesis testing and why is it relevant in the lab? The session will engage the audience in fun interactive activities with p-values, type I and type II errors using common life examples, and will relate to calculations such as the most probable number (MPN in microbiology). Moreover, the session will introduce the audience to basic considerations in statistical experimental design and data analysis, connecting common sense with statistical tools, such as the t-test and ANOVA.