Epidemiological Study Design and Statistical Methods

COURSE NUMBER:

PHC 6015

COURSE TITLE:

Epidemiological Study Design and Statistical Methods

COURSE OVERVIEW:

This course is a fully online course. This course is part of the Master of Public Health degree program.

INSTRUCTORS:

Justice Mbizo, jmbizo@uwf.edu

PREREQUISITES OR COREQUISITES:

Those interested in this course and/or the Master of Public Health program should contact Mr. Steve Celestial at (850) 474-2885 or scelestial@uwf.edu.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Covers research design and methods in public health and epidemiology. Experimental, quasi-experimental, observational, survey, surveillance, and qualitative study designs will be reviewed. Methods for reliable and valid data collection and analysis will be covered. An overview of statistical methods for the analysis of public health data will be provided.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (Objectives):

Following this course, the student will be able to:


• Discuss epidemiologic and etiologic goals of public health research.
• Identify and describe major research designs and methods used in public health.
• Differentiate among experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, and observational study designs and methods.
• Explain methods for assuring internal and external validity in research design.
• Differentiate among statistical analysis procedures to be able to apply appropriate statistical tests for different levels of data and study designs.

TOPICS COVERED:

1. history of public health research methods
2. epidemiologic and etiologic objectives of public health research
3. research methods in public health
   • experiments
   • quasi-experiments
   • observational designs
   • survey designs
   • disease frequency
   • qualitative studies
4. reliability and validity
   • reliability of measurement
   • internal and external validity
   • confounds and experimental control
   • sampling and selection
   • quality-adjusted life years
5. statistical analysis and interpretation of public health data
   • significance and power
   • confidence intervals
   • correlation and regression
   • comparison of means/analysis of variance and t-tests
   • comparison of rates and proportions
   • analysis of data from multiple groups or multiple interventions
   • secondary analysis
   • meta-analysis
   • survival data

REQUIRED TEXTS:

• Epidemiology by Leon Gordis, 3rd Edition; Jones and Bartlet Publishers
• Epidemiology for Public Health Practice, Robert Friss & Thomas A. Sellers, 3rd Edition

SUGGESTED READINGS:

         - Earl Barbie. Survey Research Methods, Second Edition Geri LoBiondo-Hood and Judith Haber.

         - Nursing Research: Methods, Critical Appraisal, and Utilization (Paperback) Last, JM, ed.

         - A Dictionary of Epidemiology. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995.

SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED BY STUDENTS: (beyond baseline requirements of e-mail and word processing)

• Students will be required to develop a paper for this course.

GRADING/EVALUATION:

Grades will be assigned based upon performance on midterm and final examinations, a research design proposal, two literature critique papers, and online participation according to the following weights:
• Midterm examination 20%
• Final examination 20%
• Research design proposal 30%
• Literature critique papers 20%
• Attendance and participation 10%

EXPECTATIONS FOR ACADEMIC CONDUCT/PLAGIARISM POLICY:

• Academic Conduct Policy [Web format | PDF format | rtf format]
• Plagiarism Policy [Word format | PDF format | rtf format]
• Student Handbook [PDF format]

ASSISTANCE:

Students with special needs who require specific examination-related or other course-related accommodations should contact Disabled Student Services (DSS), dss@uwf.edu, (850) 474-2387. DSS will provide the student with a letter for the instructor that will specify any recommended accommodations.