mathematics

Ruth Pfeiffer

Ruth Pfeiffer is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ruth Pfeiffer rather than just read about it. In short: Ruth Maria Pfeiffer is a biostatistician who researches risk prediction, molecular and genetic epidemiology, and electronic medical records. She is a senior investigator in the biostatistics branch at the National Cancer Institute.

Key takeaways

Ruth Pfeiffer belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ruth Pfeiffer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ruth Pfeiffer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ruth Maria Pfeiffer is a biostatistician who researches risk prediction, molecular and genetic epidemiology, and electronic medical records. She is a senior investigator in the biostatistics branch at the National Cancer Institute. Pfeiffer is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and the American Statistical Association.

Life Pfeiffer received an M.S. degree in applied mathematics from the TU Wien. She earned a M.A. in applied statistics and a Ph.D. (1998) in mathematical statistics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her dissertation was titled, Statistical problems for stochastic processes with hysteresis. Mark Freidlin was Pfeiffer's doctoral advisor. Pfeiffer is a tenured senior investigator in the biostatistics branch of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics (DCEG), National Cancer Institute (NCI). Her research focuses on statistical methods for risk prediction, problems arising in molecular and genetic epidemiologic studies, and the analysis of data from electronic medical records. Pfeiffer is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. In 2013, she became an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

Selected works Pfeiffer, Ruth M.; Gail, Mitchell H. (2017). Absolute Risk: Methods and Applications in Clinical Management and Public Health. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4665-6168-7.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ruth Pfeiffer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ruth Pfeiffer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ruth Pfeiffer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ruth Pfeiffer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ruth Pfeiffer

In research: Ruth Pfeiffer appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ruth Pfeiffer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ruth Pfeiffer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American statisticians, 21st-century American women scientists, 21st-century Austrian women scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ruth Pfeiffer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ruth Pfeiffer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ruth Pfeiffer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ruth Pfeiffer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ruth Pfeiffer in simple terms?

Why does Ruth Pfeiffer matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ruth Pfeiffer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ruth Pfeiffer.