BAYES' THEOREM A theorem in probability theory which may be used for estimating the probability of a particular diagnosis given the appearance of some symptoms or test results. It emphasizes what clinical intuition often overlooks, namely that the probability of disease giving this symptom depends not only on how characteristic that symptom is of the disease but also how frequent the disease is among the population being served. Bayesian calculations are performed in odds, not in rates, proportions or percentages.
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BEFORE-.AFTER DESIGN A basic quasi-experimental design. The dependent variable is measured before and after some change to the independent variable, so see if a change may be due to a change in the independent variable. See QUASIEXPERIMENT.
BEHAVIOURIST THEORIES: depict learning in terms of performance output (like teaching a dog a trick) and ignore any key role of consciousness in the process
BELLMANISM (from The Bellman in Louis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark). The belief that repetition is a form of validation. The continued presentation of discredited data, or the disregard of data which have been investigated by a further study which comes to a different conclusion.
BENEFIT-COST RATIO The ratio of net present value measurable benefits to costs. Calculation of a benefit-cost ratio is used to determine the economic feasibility or success of a program. See also COSTBENEFIT ANALYSIS.
BIAS Deviation of results or inferences from the truth or processes leading to such deviation. Any trend in the collection, analysis, interpretation, publication or review of data that can lead to conclusions that are systematically different from the truth.
BINOMINAI, SCALE (Syn: dichotomous scale) A type of NOMINAL SCALE. Ordering characteristics or data in two divisions with a name with no ranking order, i.e. gender, dead or alive.
BIRTH COHORT: A group of people born within a defined period of time.
BIRTH INTERVAL Interval between the end of one completed pregnancy and the end of the next.
BIRTH RATE A summary rate based on the number of live births in a population over a given period, usually one year.
BIRTH WEIGHT Infant's weight recorded at the time of birth. Certain variants of birth weight are precisely defined. Low birth weight (LBW) is below 2500 grammes, and very low (VLBW) is below 1500 grammes and ultralow (ULBW) is below 1000 grammes. Average weight for gestational age (AGA) is birth weight between l0th and 90th percentiles. Large for gestational age (LGA) is birth weight above 90th percentile, small for gestational age (SGA) is below 10th percentile.
BIT Acronym for binary digit, the signal used in computing. See also BYTE.
BLIND(ED) STUDY A study or experiment in which observer(s) and/or subjects are kept ignorant of the group to which the subjects belong or are assigned. When both the observer and the subject are kept ignorant, the study is called a double-blind trial. The intention is to avoid bias, which might arise if the observer or the subject knows that is or could be expected.
BLINDED (UNCLEAR): the authors did not report or provide us with an indication of who, if anyone, was unaware of who received which study intervention. Unblinded: all participants in the trial (clinicians, patients, participants, outcome assessors, and statisticians) were aware of who received which study intervention.
BLINDED: any or all of the clinicians, patients, participants, outcome assessors, or statisticians were unaware of who received which study intervention. Those that are blinded are indicated in parentheses. If "initially" is indicated (eg, blinded [patients and outcome assessor initially]), the code was broken during the trial, for instance, because of adverse effects.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR THE COGNITIVE DOMAIN. Bloom developed detailed taxonomies for the cognitive (knowledge) and affective (attitude) domains. The former has often been used in educational planning and ranks thinking skills from low to higher levels, knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation. The levels can be used to provide a teaching plan that has a progression from lower to higher levels.
BME: Black and minority ethnic groups
BNSSG: Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Local Health Community
BODY MASS INDEX: An anthropometric measure or bodymass. It is defined as weight in kilogrammes divided by height in metres to the power of two: (weight kg)/(height m)2.
BOOKING (also known as full booking) The ability for patients to choose and book their appointment for consultant Outpatients, In patients and Day cases within one working day of the decision to refer or treat.
BOOKING MANAGEMENT SERVICE (BMS) A call centre operation, which assists patients and GPs with the selection of their choice of provider, choice of appointment and books the appointment.
BRAIN STORM: An intensive discussion in which spontaneous ideas to a problem are received uncritically
BRAND EQUITY involves MVP The trinity of mission, vision and positioning. Vision statement is the pronouncement of an organisations direction. Mission statement is the pronouncement of an organisations ultimate purpose. Position statement is the pronouncement of an organisations promise. A brands positioning is the way in which you want consumers to think about your product or service.
BRISTOL PARTNERSHIP The partnership (also known as the Local Strategic Partnership – LSP) set up by Bristol City Council, comprising public, private, business,community and voluntary sectors. The aim is to create a shared vision and long-term plans for agencies to work together for the overallgood of people in Bristol. It has a number of sub-groups (Delivery Groups – including one on Health and Wellbeing) tightly focused on delivering objectives.
BUZZ GROUPS. Groups of 2-6 people discuss issues or problems for a short period within a longer session
BYTE A group of adjacent bits, commonly 4, 6 or 8, operating as a unit for storage and manipulation of data in a computer. See also BIT.