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Lecture Materials
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Module 1: Roles of Quantitative Methods in Public Health
> Lecture 1: Biostatistics and Epidemiology within the Paradigm of Public Health (Diener-West)
Describe the role quantitative methods play in addressing public health questions
Define epidemiology and biostatistics, in terms of their relationship to each other, and discuss their roles in collecting, describing, and evaluating data
Differentiate between descriptive statistical methods and inferential statistical methods
> Lecture 2: Epidemiologic Investigation (Kanchanaraksa)
Relate the role of epidemiology in assessing health status in community
Describe the epidemiologic concepts of disease transmission
List and describe the steps necessary to conduct an epidemiologic investigation
> Lecture 3: Exploratory Data Analysis (Diener-West)
Differentiate between types of random variables and different measurement scales
Organize, group, and summarize data using exploratory data analysis techniques
Describe basic summary measures of location and dispersion
> Lecture 4: Tables and Graphs (Diener-West)
Utilize appropriate methods of displaying data in tables and graphs
Interpret data displayed in tables and graphs
Distinguish between graphing on an arithmetic scale versus a logarithmic scale
Module 2: Quantifying and Comparing Public Health Measures
> Lecture 5: Summary Measures [Ratio, Proportion, Rate] (Diener-West)
Distinguish among ratios, proportions, and rates
Identify the properties of ratios, proportions, and rates
Recognize the usefulness of person-time analysis and rates
Describe common rates used in vital statistics
> Lecture 6: Indices of Morbidity and Mortality (Kanchanaraksa)
Define the indices of morbidity and mortality
Recognize the sources of information for morbidity and mortality
Describe the problems in calculating indices of morbidity and mortality
> Lecture 7: Direct and Indirect Methods of Adjustment (Diener-West)
Define strata-specific, crude, and strata-adjusted rates
Describe the influences of strata-specific rates and population composition on crude rates
Describe how differences in population composition confound a comparison between crude rates
Recognize the requirements for the direct method of adjustment and resulting interpretation of adjusted rates
Recognize the requirements for the indirect method of adjustment and resulting interpretation of adjusted rates
Describe the relationship between the standardized mortality ratio and the indirectly adjusted rates
List the relative merits of the two methods of adjustment
Module 3: Quantifying the Natural History of Disease
> Lecture 8: Life Tables (Diener-West)
Identify and calculate the components of a clinical life table
Discuss the assumptions associated with the construction of a clinical life table
Define censored observations in the context of a clinical life table
Define cumulative survival probabilities for a clinical life table
> Lecture 9: Measures of Prognosis (Diener-West, Kanchanaraksa)
Identify the basic concept of natural history of disease
Define five-year survival
Discuss an example of a clinical life table
Explore survival curves
Recognize the assumptions when using a clinical life table
Module 4: Probability Concepts and their Use in Evaluation of Diagnostic and Screening Tests
> Lecture 10: Probability Concepts (Diener-West)
Describe the basic concepts and rules of probability
Apply concepts of probability to the study of health-related events
Describe the concept of independent events
Describe the concept of mutually exclusive events
Recognize the application of conditional probability to public health questions
> Lecture 11: Evaluation of Diagnostic and Screening Tests: Validity and Reliability (Kanchanaraksa)
Define the basic terms used in the evaluation of diagnostic and screening tests
Describe the relationship between predictive value, disease prevalence, and specificity
Apply multi-stage screening procedures to a population
Compute measures of agreement
