Many people involved in the medical laboratory sciences need to be familiar with basic statistics for a variety of reasons. These reasons include:
- performing, interpreting, and understanding quality control
- interpreting results of instrument testing
- determining the suitability of different methods or instruments for the same task
- understanding how acceptable laboratory procedures and methods are established
- determining reference (normal) ranges for clinical tests of normal
- understanding clinical trials and new methods presented in journals and articles
- performing those trials and research projects yourself
