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Statistician vs principal biostatistician

The differences between statisticians and principal biostatisticians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal biostatistician has an average salary of $120,026, which is higher than the $84,726 average annual salary of a statistician.

The top three skills for a statistician include data analysis, statistical methods and statistical techniques. The most important skills for a principal biostatistician are clinical trials, QC, and statistical analysis.

Statistician vs principal biostatistician overview

StatisticianPrincipal Biostatistician
Yearly salary$84,726$120,026
Hourly rate$40.73$57.70
Growth rate31%31%
Number of jobs17,78257,041
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 33%
Average age3737
Years of experience--

What does a statistician do?

A statistician is an individual who gathers data and uses mathematical techniques to analyze and interpret data and draw conclusions. Statisticians are required to develop survey questionnaires or reporting forms so that they can collect the data they needed. Once the data are available, statisticians must analyze those data by calculating averages, reliabilities, and other specifics to identify trends and relationships. Statisticians must also write reports to explain their findings and recommend how to improve the design of future surveys or experiments.

What does a principal biostatistician do?

Principal biostatisticians are professionals who are responsible for communicating all the activities related to biostatistics of assigned projects to the sponsor companies. These biostatisticians are required to participate in the development of finished products used in clinical trials and provide statistical oversight to ensure data integrity and appropriate analysis are performed. They must develop customized statistical programs that can generate statistical data listings, summary tables, and figures. Principal biostatisticians must also answer all the questions from regulatory authorities appropriately.

Statistician vs principal biostatistician salary

Statisticians and principal biostatisticians have different pay scales, as shown below.

StatisticianPrincipal Biostatistician
Average salary$84,726$120,026
Salary rangeBetween $60,000 And $119,000Between $84,000 And $171,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaWashington
Best paying companyThe CitadelMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalHealth Care

Differences between statistician and principal biostatistician education

There are a few differences between a statistician and a principal biostatistician in terms of educational background:

StatisticianPrincipal Biostatistician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 33%
Most common majorStatisticsStatistics
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Southern California

Statistician vs principal biostatistician demographics

Here are the differences between statisticians' and principal biostatisticians' demographics:

StatisticianPrincipal Biostatistician
Average age3737
Gender ratioMale, 63.2% Female, 36.8%Male, 82.6% Female, 17.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 22.7% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 22.7% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between statistician and principal biostatistician duties and responsibilities

Statistician example responsibilities.

  • Manage Medicaid fraud and abuse portfolios by analyzing medical and pharmacy claims data.
  • Conduct analysis and large data management using SAS, SQL on UNIX.
  • Develop advanced statistical analysis using SPSS on quantitative and qualitative data
  • Conduct statistical analysis including sampling, multivariate analysis, factor analysis, time-series modeling, regression and logistic analysis.
  • Assist in the preparation of the NDA of Ambien.
  • Analyze extreme outputs of experimental tests for formulation chemists with JMP.
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Principal biostatistician example responsibilities.

  • Present at investigator meetings for international and domestic sites, CRAs, and country leads.
  • Manage qualification, preventative maintenance and calibration of equipment and reagents used in testing as per GLP standards.
  • Lead a team of 11 direct reports and 35 indirect reports to solve development problems for multicapillary electrophoresis instruments.
  • Provide technical support, measuring run parameters using GC, HPLC, viable cell count, enzyme assays and other protocols.
  • Develop and coordinate QC procedures for biometrics' deliverables.
  • Answer safety concerns of FDA.
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Statistician vs principal biostatistician skills

Common statistician skills
  • Data Analysis, 9%
  • Statistical Methods, 9%
  • Statistical Techniques, 7%
  • Statistical Data, 6%
  • Logistic Regression, 5%
  • Research Projects, 5%
Common principal biostatistician skills
  • Clinical Trials, 17%
  • QC, 12%
  • Statistical Analysis, 12%
  • Clinical Study Reports, 9%
  • Statistical Methods, 9%
  • Statistical Reports, 9%

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