Biostatistician Job Description
Biostatisticians apply their knowledge of statistics, science and mathematics to important questions in health care and public health. They work alongside researchers to gather and analyze data that will yield meaningful conclusions about important medical questions, such as the association between a psychotropic drug and weight gain, or the relationship between heart disease and smoking.
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Study Design
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Biostatisticians collaborate with researchers as they design studies, helping them find the best approach to data gathering given the question the researchers are trying to answer. These statisticians provide advice on such topics as sample size (how many subjects need to be included in a particular study for the results to be meaningful) and data collection (what methods will be used to gather the data).
Data Analysis
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Once the raw data have been gathered, biostatisticians use statistical software to turn the data into useful information. They use standard statistical procedures and terms to help researchers pinpoint which results were significant and which were inconclusive, warranting further study. Biostatisticians sometimes find themselves cleaning up an imperfect data set to help researchers glean conclusions from it.
Employers
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Biostatisticians may be hired by a number of different employers. For instance, they may work at universities or large health care institutions. They may be employees of federal or state government agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services. Or they may work in private companies' research and development groups.
Education, Training and Qualifications
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Biostatisticians have extensive backgrounds in mathematics and science as well as statistics specifically. Most biostatistician positions require either a master's degree or a Ph.D. Biostatisticians must be thorough, careful and logical while also being adaptable and innovative and able to design new ways to gather and analyze data when new challenges present themselves. They should be good at functioning as part of a team with scientists and other coworkers, and they should be able to speak and write well to effectively communicate their ideas and findings.
Salary and Job Outlook
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which does not maintain data for biostatisticians specifically, statisticians in general earned a median annual income of $69,900 in May 2007. The lowest-paid group of statisticians earned less than $38,140, while the highest-paid among them earned more than $112,880. The number of jobs available for statisticians is expected to grow by 9 percent between 2006 and 2016--about the same as the national average for all types of jobs.
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