MPharm Master of Pharmacy Master of Pharmacy: Research and Biostatistics 3

Question 1

Which measure of central tendency is most appropriate when data are severely right-skewed, such as drug cost distributions?

Accepted Answer

Median

Answer

The median is resistant to extreme values and better represents the 'typical' value in right-skewed distributions like cost data.

Question 2

In pharmacoepidemiology, the 'healthy worker effect' is an example of which type of bias?

Accepted Answer

Selection bias

Answer

The healthy worker effect is a selection bias where employed populations are healthier than the general population, distorting risk estimates.

Question 3

A researcher reports a statistically significant result (p=0.03) with a very small effect size (Cohen's d=0.05). What is the most accurate conclusion?

Accepted Answer

The finding is statistically significant but clinically trivial

Answer

With large sample sizes, trivially small differences can reach statistical significance; effect size determines clinical meaningfulness.

Question 4

The area under the ROC curve (AUC-ROC) value of 0.50 for a diagnostic biomarker indicates:

Accepted Answer

The biomarker performs no better than random chance

Answer

An AUC-ROC of 0.50 equals the performance of random chance, meaning the biomarker has no discriminative ability for the condition.

Question 5

In systematic reviews, what does the PRISMA checklist primarily guide?

Accepted Answer

Transparent reporting of systematic review methodology and results

Answer

PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is a reporting guideline to ensure transparency and completeness in systematic review publications.

MPharm Master of Pharmacy Practice Test

MPharm Master of Pharmacy Practice Test

MPharm Master of Pharmacy Master of Pharmacy: Research and Biostatistics 3