HSS 4303 Study Guide - Comprehensive Midterm Guide: Myocardial Infarction, Odds Ratio, Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy
5 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Ontology: how we define and experience reality: objectively lab scientists, subjectively historians. Methodology: tools for identifying and categorizing knowledge. Positivist paradigm = objective reality exists (we"re culturally biased towards this paradigm) Outcome = dependent variable (ex: lung cancer) Risk factors = exposures that increase or decrease the likelihood of developing certain disorders (ex: smoking is a risk factor of lung cancer) Descriptive studies = simple but one of the most common types of studies: who students, what left-handedness, when this class, where right now. Bias: any systematic error in an epidemiologic study that results in an incorrect estimate of the association between exposure and risk of disease. Case control: start with the outcome and look back to identify the cause. Selection bias: error due to systematic differences between two study groups, error due to a systematic difference between those selected for a study and those who are not.
