EPID 301 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Observational Error, Odds Ratio, Child Abuse

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Community Health and Epidemiology
• Course: EPID 301
• Professor: Helene Ouellette-Kuntz

Document Summary

Critical appraisal and classification of study designs. Study-design classification helps with critical appraisal, because particular methodological vulnerabilities are typically associated with different designs. Process of classifying a study"s design requires close attention to key aspects of its methodology (a system of methods used in particular areas of study), which helps to bring a conceptual structure to the process of critical appraisal. Study-design classification involves an organized series of steps and questions that collect key information. **classification of study design is an early step in critical appraisal. Best approach: to determine the key features studies actually possess. Common approach: categorize studies presumptively as : descriptive (concerned with distribution or prevalence of diseases, analytical (concerned with casual connections between exposure and disease) Emphasizes the goals and motivations generally associated with particular study designs. Cross-sectional study design is often considered descriptive, because it cannot allow casual inference.