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Biostatistics — PhD reading list.

The advanced references a doctoral scholar in Biostatistics works from, and what each one is for.

All 22 subjects
7Titles listed
4Worked right through
3–6 yrsProgramme length
12Coursework credits
The subject

Biostatistics as a research subject

ScopeClinical trial design and analysis, survival and longitudinal methods, meta-analysis and evidence synthesis, statistical genetics, health data science and predictive modelling on clinical registries.
Who can registerMSc Statistics, Biostatistics or Mathematics, MPH, MSc Epidemiology, MBBS or MD with quantitative training, MTech Computer Science.
How you get inEither the fellowship route — CSIR-UGC NET, ICMR, DBT-BET, DST-INSPIRE — straight to interview, or the institute entrance test, half research methodology and half biostatistics.
CourseworkOne semester, at least 12 credits: research methodology and biostatistics, plus Research and Publication Ethics, before the research phase proper begins.
How this list is used

Reading for Biostatistics

A biostatistics PhD in India usually runs on one classical text for the theory, one applied regression book per method family, and a locally written book for teaching medical postgraduates. Armitage, Berry and Matthews remains the reference for the derivations behind standard tests; Rosner is what coursework problem sets are set from. Once the thesis moves into real analysis, Agresti, Hosmer-Lemeshow and Kleinbaum become the working desk books, with Harrell read for model specification, validation and the sins of stepwise selection. Mahajan's is the book you actually teach from when you run the departmental biostatistics sessions, and it is the one most likely to be bought in India rather than borrowed.

Titles are tagged core reading — the ones scholars work right through — or reference, the ones they look things up in. Editions are given where the current edition is what you want to buy.

  1. Statistical Methods in Medical Researchcore readingPeter Armitage, Geoffrey Berry, J.N.S. Matthews · Blackwell Science / Wiley · 4th edition (2001)The classical reference for the theory behind standard medical statistics — still cited for derivations and assumptions.
  2. Fundamentals of Biostatisticscore readingBernard Rosner · Cengage Learning · 8th edition (2016)Coursework and problem-set text; the worked medical examples make it the usual first-year reading.
  3. Categorical Data Analysiscore readingAlan Agresti · Wiley · 3rd edition (2013)The reference for contingency tables, log-linear and multinomial models — opened whenever the outcome is not continuous.
  4. Applied Logistic Regressioncore readingDavid W. Hosmer Jr., Stanley Lemeshow, Rodney X. Sturdivant · Wiley · 3rd edition (2013)Model building, goodness-of-fit and diagnostics for binary outcomes — the standard citation for the Hosmer-Lemeshow test itself.
  5. Survival Analysis: A Self-Learning TextreferenceDavid G. Kleinbaum, Mitchel Klein · Springer · 3rd edition (2012)Worked through for Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression and the proportional hazards assumption before running time-to-event analyses.
  6. Regression Modeling StrategiesreferenceFrank E. Harrell Jr. · Springer · 2nd edition (2015)Read for variable selection, splines, calibration and internal validation — the source most reviewers expect for prediction-model work.
  7. Mahajan's Methods in Biostatistics for Medical Students and Research WorkersreferenceBratati Banerjee · Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers · 9th edition (2018)The Indian teaching book — used when running biostatistics sessions for MD and MSc students and for quick sample-size formulae.

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Alongside the subject list

The two lists every scholar also needs

Whatever the subject, the coursework semester is examined on research methodology, biostatistics and publication ethics, and the bench work runs on a handful of protocol volumes. Both lists are kept separately so you are not buying them twice.

Research methodology & biostatistics Laboratory methods & instrumentation Entrance routes Where it is offered
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Frequently asked

PhD Biostatistics — questions

Which books does a PhD scholar in Biostatistics read?

The 7 titles on this page, of which 4 are worked right through and the rest are kept as references. Most scholars own two or three and use the department copy for the others.

Who can register for a PhD in Biostatistics?

MSc Statistics, Biostatistics or Mathematics, MPH, MSc Epidemiology, MBBS or MD with quantitative training, MTech Computer Science.

What does a PhD in Biostatistics cover?

Clinical trial design and analysis, survival and longitudinal methods, meta-analysis and evidence synthesis, statistical genetics, health data science and predictive modelling on clinical registries.

Is the coursework examined?

Yes. One semester of at least 12 credits, assessed before the research phase begins, covering research methodology, biostatistics and Research and Publication Ethics.

Can you print this reading for me?

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