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A practical introduction to selection bias in clinical research
Location: Leeds | Date: 16 May 2025
From the Improving Statistical Literacy working group of the NIHR Statistics Group, a free in-person workshop with Peter Tennant and Liz Hensor from the University of Leeds.
To register, please visit https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.co.uk%2Fe%2F1290370696489%3Faff%3Doddtdtcreator&data=05%7C02%7CAmanda.Knight%40newcastle.ac.uk%7Cf41a50bd9d174bec4b9f08dd702b9a97%7C9c5012c9b61644c2a91766814fbe3e87%7C1%7C0%7C638790054747543583%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9BjXfgENsfP9vxLAbpoNJhOgCLG50fzgYLVcg9mR2ns%3D&reserved=0. Note that places are strictly limited to 50.
Workshop: A practical introduction to selection bias in clinical research Friday 16th May 2025, 12:00 – 16:30 Worsley Building, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire
About the workshop
In this workshop, we will start with an interactive demonstration of selection bias in action. Dr Peter Tennant, Associate Professor of Health Data Science at University of Leeds, will then give a lecture on the sources of selection bias, its consequences, and some potential solutions. Afterwards there will be an R exercise with syntax provided. R knowledge is not mandatory as we will work through the exercise with everyone.
Selection bias is a widespread issue in clinical research which is potentially driving much of the current ‘reproducibility crisis’, but the many routes via which it may occur, and the extent of the biases it can introduce, are not widely appreciated. Although there is a robust theoretical framework permitting causal inferences to be drawn from observational data, the appropriate methods of data collection and analysis are still rarely applied. Even randomised controlled trials are not immune to these problems in some cases. Improving understanding of selection bias is key to raising methodological standards, reducing the occurrence of apparently paradoxical or conflicting results, and ensuring that we can identify the right targets for new therapies and future research.
Dr Peter Tennant has a long-standing interest in causal inference; he runs the popular Introduction to Causal Inference Course for Health and Social Scientists and leads the Alan Turing Institute’s Causal Inference Interest Group. Joining him in presenting this workshop is Dr Liz Hensor, lead Medical Statistician at the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre and Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. Dr Jamie Sergeant, Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics at the University of Manchester’s Centre for Biostatistics and co-lead of the NIHR Statistics Group’s Improving Statistical Literacy working group, will introduce the workshop.
Who is it for?
. Researchers at any career stage who are working with clinical data.
. Those with some basic knowledge of path diagrams / directed acyclic graphs.*
. Those working with observational data or clinical trial data.
*If you were not present for Dr Tennant’s talk during a breakout session of the NIHR statistics group conference in 2023 it would be helpful to watch the recording prior to attending this workshop: https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FbLwLBuYlaak%3Fsi%3DJkKN_40lZGkuBMYu&data=05%7C02%7CAmanda.Knight%40newcastle.ac.uk%7Cf41a50bd9d174bec4b9f08dd702b9a97%7C9c5012c9b61644c2a91766814fbe3e87%7C1%7C0%7C638790054747559745%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=w%2FGc9Djj8m9ua31f2L%2B2YYykrHdOwCQp8wf74Mp1J9M%3D&reserved=0
Workshop outline
12:00 Arrival (lunch not provided but there is a café next to the lecture theatre)
12:45 Welcome
12:50 Practical exercise
13:30 Lecture
14:30 Questions
14:45 Break
15:15 R exercise (please bring a laptop with R installed if you’re able to, but this is not mandatory)
16:15 Discussion and close-up
16:30 End
Directions
The venue is Dental Lecture Theatre (6.142), located on level 6 of the Worsley Building at University of Leeds, Clarendon Way, Leeds, LS2 9LU.
Please note that refreshments are not permitted within the lecture theatre but there are cafés and coffee shops in the building, including one directly next to the lecture theatre.
More detailed directions are available on the Eventbrite page.