Clinical Trials

■■❚❙❘Chapter 17Types of Data andNormal DistributionDuolao Wang, Ameet Bakhai, and Ashima GuptaIn a clinical trial, substantial amounts of data are recordedon each subject at randomization, such as the patient’sdemographic characteristics, disease-related risk factors,medical history, biochemical markers, and medical therapies,as well as outcome or endpoint data at various time points.These data can be quantitative or qualitative. Understandingthe types of data is important as they determine which methodof data analysis to use and how to report the results. In thischapter, we introduce data types and demonstrate waysof summarizing and presenting data in clinical research.In addition, we describe the fundamentals of the normaldistribution theory and its applications.167