epidemiology : MC3 - epidemiological data questionnaires

what do epidemiologists use to calculate rates and conduct studies

primary and secondary data sources

once we have the data necessary to calculate rates and conduct a study, what is the next step ?

study the data with descriptive epidemiology

what questions do we answer during descriptive epidemiology ?

what ?

how much ?

when ?

where ?

among whom ?

what is the purpose of descriptive epidemiology ?

provide systematic approach

ensure all basic dimensions are known

identifying populations at increased risk

provides timely information

supports decisions (control and prevention)

measures progress (control and prevention)

enables generation of testable hypotheses

helps validate causes or risk factors

how is epidemiological descriptive data organized ?

into rapid, objective and coherent representations of the data (tables, graphs, etc)

what 4 things does data representation must have ?

1. title

2. data

3. footnotes

4. text

what are questionnaires used for in epidemiology ?

collecting information on exposures, outcomes, modifiers, mediators, confounders

the item development in questionnaire design should be guided by ?

list of variables

do we reuse relevant items from previous studies in questionnaire design ?

it is preferable

what are attitudes ?

things that can only be assessed through the respondent

what is behaviour ?

things that can be assessed by somebody else

when exact quantification is difficult, which type of questions is preferable ?

limited number of responses options

how should you order your questions ?

neutral at start, sensitive at end

(global at start, specific at end)

what is pretesting and pilot testing ?

refers to the testing of the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents to identify and eliminate potential problems

the design of questionnaires needs ____ aims and objectives, a selection of _____ that need to be translated into _______, and in _____ order

clear, items, questions, logical

the words used in the questionnaire should be ___________ by the subjects, they should neither be too _______ nor too simple, they should be ______, unambigous and concise

understood, difficult, clear

the _______ of the questionnaire is as important as the actual questions

format