DESCRIPTION AND REPORTING OF STATISTICAL-METHODS

A review of the last three volumes of AJIC (1990, 1991, and 1992, numb ers 1 through 3) revealed a modest use of statistics in infection cont rol research. Discussion of the statistics most commonly used results in the following recommendations: (1) Researchers who use the t test s hould report the t test statistic, exact significance probabilities, a nd a discussion of assumptions and requirements underlying the analysi s. (2) A 95% confidence interval for estimated quantities is preferred to p values. (3) The potential impact of nonresponse bias should be i ncluded in reports of survey data. (4) An adequate description of stat istical methods should be included in all reports of survey data. (5) An adequate description of statistical methods should be included in a ll research articles.