BASUG Quarterly Meeting Announcement

  

 

Does the thought of statistics scare you? Fear not. This quarter’s speakers will share their knowledge, experience, and techniques to help get you started in the statistical world of SAS.

We are delighted to feature presentations by three of BASUG’s own Steering Committee members: Bruno Berszoner, Healthcare Analyst at Tufts Health Plan, Bridget Neville, SAS Programmer at Dana‑Farber Cancer Institute and Asli Memisoglu, Director, Biostatistics and Data Management at WorldCare Clinical.

Immediately following the meeting, we will provide an informal light buffet lunch for all meeting attendees. We hope you can stay for this opportunity to network and socialize with your fellow SAS users.

Please note that we are in a new venue for this meeting!

 

Topic:

Getting Started with Statistics Using SAS

When:

Friday, September 25, 2009, 8:15 AM – Noon

 

Where:

Microsoft New England Research & Development Center

One Memorial Drive

Conference Center First Floor NEW LOCATION

Cambridge, MA 02142

(857) 453-6000

 

Directions:

Please visit: http://www.basug.org/directionsNERD.html

Note NEW location!

 

How:

Individual, On-Line Registration Required. No e-mail please!

 

To register:

Please visit: http://www.basug.org/register.php3 and register by Tuesday September 22nd.

 

Contact:

If you have questions about the meeting please contact:

Karen Olson (Karen.Olson@childrens.harvard.edu) or
Eric Hamann (ehamann@wyeth.com)

 

Agenda

 

8:15-8:45

Sign-in and refreshments

8:45-9:00

Announcements

9:00-10:00

Basic Categorical Data Analysis in SAS by Bruno Berszoner, Quality and Health Informatics Department of Tufts Health Plan

10:00-10:15

Break

10:15-11:00

An introduction to nonparametric statistics using SAS by Bridget Neville,

Center for Outcomes and Policy Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

11:00-11:15

Break

11:15-12:00

Calculation and customized output of summary statistics using SAS:
A few macros that changed my life
by Asli Memisoglu, WorldCare Clinical

12:00-1:00

Informal buffet lunch (provided by BASUG)

 

Note: Times are approximate.

Please re-visit the BASUG website (www.basug.org) for updated information.

 

Abstracts and Bios

 

 

Basic Categorical Data Analysis in SAS

Bruno Berszoner, Healthcare Analyst
Quality and Health Informatics Department at Tufts Health Plan

 

This is an introduction to one of the fundamental statistical tools for analyzing categorical data, the chi-square test. Using the FREQ procedure in SAS, we will cover how to set up your data, how to run the test and more importantly, how to interpret the results while relying on only limited amounts of mathematics.

 

Bruno Berszoner specializes in the management and evaluation of disease management programs. He also teaches part-time in the Biostatistics department of the Boston University School of Public Health and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Boston Area SAS Users Group. Bruno holds a master's degree in Development Economics from Northeastern University, a graduate certificate in IT management from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor's degree in International Business and Economics from Illinois Benedictine College.

 

An introduction to nonparametric statistics using SAS

Bridget Neville, MPH, SAS Programmer

Center for Outcomes and Policy Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

 

This presentation will briefly introduce you to the differences between parametric and nonparametric statistics. It will teach you how to test for normality and decide whether parametric or nonparametric statistics are appropriate. The main focus of the presentation will be the nonparametric versions of the paired t-test (signed rank), 2-sample t-test (Wilcoxon rank sum), ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis), Pearson correlation (Spearman correlation), and how to execute these tests using SAS.

 

Bridget Neville has been SASsy for almost 10 years. She obtained her MPH in Epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta. Currently, she works at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a SAS programmer, focusing on projects involving the SEER-Medicare database. She also works part-time at Boston University School of Public Health in the Biostatistics department as one of several instructors of BS723: Introduction to Statistical Computing. In her spare time, she loves practicing yoga, playing the piano, and is currently learning to speak Mandarin.

 

Calculation and customized output of summary statistics using SAS:
A few macros that changed my life

Asli Memisoglu, ScD, Director of Biostatistics and Data Management

WorldCare Clinical

 

Now that you know the appropriate statistics you should calculate how do you get SAS to output these summary statistics to a respectable table that can be passed on to your boss, to clients or other interested parties? This presentation will build on knowledge gained from the previous two presentations and describe a few simple macros that automate calculation of statistics and output these statistics directly into customized tables that can be viewed in MS Word and integrated into study reports. Procedures that will be used include: MEANS, FREQ, TTEST, NPAR1WAY, CORR, TRANSPOSE, REPORT, and ODS. These macros are versatile and enable calculation of assorted statistics from categorical, binary and continuous data and make quick work of generating tables containing summary statistics from with numerous variables and/or subgroups. 

 

For over 10 years Asli Memisoglu has conducted statistical analysis and programming for clinical/epidemiological research studies. She is currently Director, Biostatistics and Data Management at WorldCare Clinical, an imaging Clinical Research Organization for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. In addition to providing statistical guidance, Asli is responsible for SAS programming for WorldCare Clinical. Prior to joining WorldCare, Asli managed all biostatistics, data management and scientific communications involving clinical trials at the biotechnology company Acusphere Inc. As Lead Pharmacoeconomist/Outcomes Scientist for Abt Associates' Health Economics and Quality of Life Evaluation Services, she has designed and implemented outcomes research projects for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Boston Chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association and is a long-time member of the steering committee for the Boston Area SAS® Users Group. Asli holds a doctorate in molecular science and cellular toxicology and a master's degree in epidemiology from Harvard University, and a bachelor's degree in biology from Tufts University.

 

 

BASUG Membership

 

Keep your BASUG Membership up-to-date! Print out a membership form from our website, and bring it with you to the meeting (along with your check). Please note that we have discontinued Corporate Memberships – we now provide only Individual Membership at $30 annually, on a calendar basis. For more information on our membership policy, or to print out a form visit: http://www.basug.org/basugj.shtml

 

 

Directions to Microsoft New England Research and Development Center

 

NEW LOCATION

 

Please visit: http://www.basug.org/directionsNERD.html

 

 

BASUG Contacts

 

Mailing Address:

 

BASUG

PO Box 253

Boston, MA 02117

 

To email our Webmaster: basugwm@basug.org