Modules 3 & 4: Biostatistics and Social and Behavioral Sciences

Vocabulary flashcards covering biostatistical measures, causal criteria, research studies, health equity concepts, behavioral models, and structural determinants.

Independent variable

The variable you think causes the outcome; something that can be changed.

Dependent variable

The variable that measures the outcome you are interested in.

Temporality

The concept that a cause has to come before the effect in order to establish causality, requiring a study that specifically includes time.

Longitudinal/cohort studies

Studies that follow the same group of people (a cohort) through time.

Attrition

Losing people over time in a study, occurring as patients leave or enter the study group.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

The golden standard for proving cause and effect, comparing identical control and treatment groups where the only difference is the treatment.

P-value

The likelihood that your hypothesis is not just random chance, allowing you to reject the null hypothesis; a lower value indicates the result is less likely to be random.

Null hypothesis

The statistical proposition that there is no difference between group X and group Y.

$0.05$ threshold

The statistical cutoff where a p-value of $p \le 0.05$ is required to reject the null hypothesis.

Chi-square

A test comparing what we actually see in data (observed counts) versus what we would expect to see if two things were unrelated (expected counts).

Normal distribution

A data pattern where most people are clustered around one central point and fewer people appear at the extremes.

Sampling bias

A situation where a sample skews the data (e.g., when a small number of people use healthcare a lot, skewing the mean/average).

Confidence intervals

A range of numbers that accounts for slight differences between the sample and the population; if it overlaps with $1$, the finding is not statistically significant ($p > 0.05$).

Hazard

Anything that can cause harm.

Exposure

How much contact you actually have with a hazard.

Risk

The chance that harm actually happens to you, calculated as $\text{risk} = \text{hazard} \times \text{exposure}$.

Modifiable risk factors

Health-related factors that can be changed, including smoking, physical activity, diet, and blood pressure.

Non-modifiable risk factors

Health-related factors that cannot be altered, including age, family, and sex.

Risk ratio

A metric that compares the probability of an event happening in one group versus another, where $RR = 1$ indicates no difference, $RR > 1$ indicates higher risk, and $RR < 1$ indicates lower risk.

Odds ratio

A metric that compares the probability of an event happening or not happening at all, where $OR = 1$ means no difference, $OR < 1$ indicates smaller odds, and $OR > 1$ indicates higher odds.

Hazard ratio

A measure answering how fast an event is happening in one group compared to another at any given moment.

Relative risk

A comparative measure telling you how much risk changes between groups, which requires an absolute number to make sense.

Absolute risk

The actual baseline probability telling you out of how many people an event occurs.

MMWR

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is the CDC's weekly report on what is making Americans sick and what is killing them.

Morbidity

Illness or state of being diseased.

Mortality

Death.

CRAAP test

An evaluation framework consisting of Currency (when published), Relevance (answers the question), Authority (author credentials), Accuracy (evidence and citations), and Purpose (why it exists).

RADAR test

An evaluation framework assessing Relevance, Authority, Date (how current), Appearance (professional look), and Reason.

Equity in data

Making sure different populations are adequately represented in research so the results are accurate and applicable to everyone being studied.

Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)

Field that studies how people's behaviors, relationships, communities, and social conditions shape their health and uses that knowledge to design programs and policies that help people be healthier.

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)

Five domains shaping health: economic, health, education, neighborhood/built environment, and social.

Health inequality

Any measurable difference in health between groups.

Health inequity

A difference in health between groups that is avoidable, unnecessary, and unfair.

Equality

A principle where everyone gets the same thing.

Equity

A principle where each person gets what they need.

Justice

A principle focused on fixing the cause so that the need shrinks.

County Health Rankings model

A model showing what drives community health: $40\%$ social and economic factors, $30\%$ health behaviors, $20\%$ clinical care, and $10\%$ physical environment.

Health Belief Model

A health behavior theory comprising perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy.

Transtheoretical Model

A behavior change model moving through precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance, where relapse is normal.

Social Cognitive Theory

A health behavior theory stating that people, their behavior, and their environment all shape each other.

Redlining

Denying loans and investment to neighborhoods based on grades (A: best, B: still desirable, C: definitely declining, D: hazardous) assigned by banks and the Federal Housing Administration.

Place-based disinvestment

Pulling money, businesses, and services out of a place, or never putting them in.