uwloo

STAT 438Advanced Methods in Biostatistics

Units
0.50
Faculty
Mathematics
Subject
Statistics

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Causal inference methodologies including propensity score matching and inverse probability weighting. Methods for handling incomplete data and covariate measurement error; likelihood based on joint models, estimating functions.

Prerequisites

  • Must have completed the following:
    • STAT431 - Generalized Linear Models and their Applications (0.50)

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00159870 / 40TTh 14:30–15:50
LEC 70123489 / 9999Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it67% easy83% useful

From 3 ratings and 3 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • The first half of this course covered causal inference and the second half was about missing data and misclassification. I've heard other offerings of this course felt like a repeat of STAT 337 but this was basically all new content, and a lot of it. My offering did not have a final project which I was a bit disappointed about. The midterm was really long and difficult, but it was appropriately adjusted. The final was also long, but it was more fair than the midterm. I think Glen McGee structured the course quite well, and even through we covered a lot of content, there were lots of similarities between the topics that made it easier to digest.

    May 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course was okay. The first half was a review of study design and epidemiology from STAT 337 and I didn't understand the point most of the time, it was kinda boring and confusing. The second half was on missing data and propensity scores and was much more interesting and new content. The midterm on the first half was a little tricky, but reasonable. The final group project was on the second half and wasn't very difficult, somewhat interesting.

    Apr 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Easy course, but the assignments might not be that clear. Lots of new techniques are implemented in the course that closely relate to Yeying's own papers that are recent.

    Mar 2022 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

14 posts and comments in 13 threads mention STAT 438, February 2018 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2023

Winter 2023

Winter 2022

Winter 2021

Fall 2020

Spring 2020

Fall 2019

how is stat437 and how is this course with Leilei Zeng? 6 points, 19 comments

“I'm searching from some 3xx and 4xx stat course to meet the requirement of the stat course in my stat plan. How is this course's difficulty? Also which one is easier for 437 and 438? …”

u/BirdieWolf14: “I am only taking STAT 438 because Yeying is teaching it. But I did have LeiLei for STAT 331, and I thought she was fair as well, and I would take her again, but it doesn't work out with my schedule. And while I did take STAT 443, I took it with Paul and we did almost nothing. …”

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Spring 2019

Rank the Stat 4xx Courses from Easiest to Hardest! 9 points, 13 comments

“Trying to plan my courses for next term and looking for people's opinions on the easiest/hardest Stat 4xx courses! TIA!”

u/eficiency: “Just going to mention each of them so that the bot can hopefully come up with a list of course titles STAT 430 STAT 431 STAT 433 STAT 435 STAT 436 STAT 437 STAT 438 STAT 440 STAT 441 STAT 442 STAT 443 STAT 444 STAT 450 STAT 454 STAT 464 STAT 466 STAT 467 STAT 468 STAT 469”

u/boolgogi: “From what I took: Hardest to easiest: 444 > 437 > (large jump here) 450 > 431 > (another large jump) 436 > 430 > 438 I've heard 433 and 440 are quite hard, and I've heard 443/454 are pretty easy, …”

u/maaaaath: “Thanks for your input! How was the workload for Stat 438? Did you find the topics interesting/useful?”

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Winter 2019

Fall 2018

Advice about math major subject 3 points, 14 comments

“I'm debating between doing data science, biostatistics, actuarial science, and statistics in that order I think. …”

u/angerygoosepopo: “Try doing this: 1A: MATH135, MATH137, CS135, \[Communication\], HLTH101 OR BIOL239 1B: MATH136, MATH138, CS136, STAT230, MTHEL131 ​ This should open up opportunities for all the plans that you …”

u/h2olotwo: “From my understanding it’s more of choice of what courses interest you more. Stat 337/437/438 should probably give you the skills needed to work in public health (mind you, I haven’t these classes yet so if anyone else could input that’d be great)”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar