What Do Biostatisticians Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Biostatisticians develop and apply biostatistical theory and methods to the study of life sciences. They also draw conclusions or make predictions, based on data summaries or statistical analyses.

Other tasks include:

• Design research studies in collaboration with physicians, life scientists, or other professionals.
• Analyze clinical or survey data, using statistical approaches such as longitudinal analysis, mixed-effect modeling, logistic regression analyses, and model-building techniques.
• Provide biostatistical consultation to clients or colleagues.
• Write research proposals or grant applications for submission to external bodies.
• Prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences.
• Calculate sample size requirements for clinical studies.

We asked Biostatisticians how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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70% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 46% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Biostatisticians provide biostatistical consultation to clients or colleagues. They assign work to biostatistical assistants or programmers.

A typical day for a Biostatistician will also include:

• Draw conclusions or make predictions, based on data summaries or statistical analyses.
• Write program code to analyze data with statistical analysis software.
• Analyze clinical or survey data, using statistical approaches such as longitudinal analysis, mixed-effect modeling, logistic regression analyses, and model-building techniques.
• Prepare tables and graphs to present clinical data or results.
• Design research studies in collaboration with physicians, life scientists, or other professionals.

We asked some Biostatisticians a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	52% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	64% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	60% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	8% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	8% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Biostatisticians also review clinical or other medical research protocols and recommend appropriate statistical analyses. They may also prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Biostatisticians Determine project plans, timelines, or technical objectives for statistical aspects of biological research studies. They might also Design research studies in collaboration with physicians, life scientists, or other professionals.

In addition, they Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, and talk with colleagues to keep abreast of methodological or conceptual developments in fields such as biostatistics, pharmacology, life sciences, and social sciences.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Collect data through surveys or experimentation.

To some Biostatisticians, it is also their responsibility to Monitor clinical trials or experiments to ensure adherence to established procedures or to verify the quality of data collected.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Biostatistician, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/math/statisticians.htm

http://www.amstat.org/

http://thisisstatistics.org/

http://www.ams.org/