This course uses real world examples to introduce students to basic survey methodology and data management. Students have the opportunity to practice the fundamentals of good survey design and how to enter, code and clean the data one collects. Topics include formulating research questions, sampling, sample size determination, linking instruments to conceptual frameworks, principles of item construction and scale development, modes of survey administration, and qualitative methods. During the laboratory component of the course, students learn how to develop and maintain a documentation system, create data entry screens, verify the accuracy of data entry, clean data, merge and subset data files, derive new variables, conduct descriptive analyses and summarize results. This course focuses on the epidemiological aspects of infectious diseases, concentrating on the epidemiology of bacterial and viral infections.
Emphasis is placed on concepts of transmission and prevention.
This course applies the principles of epidemiology to the study of cancer in human populations. Time trends, geographic distribution, and the demography of various cancers are covered. The course emphasizes design and analysis issues specific to the study of cancer. Screening and cancer prevention are also discussed through case examples. This course teaches students how to formulate a clinical research hypothesis and develop it into a clinical research project.