Principles Of Epidemiology Workbook: Exercises And Activities

This workbook was written for students of epidemiology and serves as a supplement to any one of several introductory text books in epidemiology. Each chapter is divided into an introduction, a series of questions and detailed responses, and a series of Homework questions. At the end of each chapter is a table with a list of selected epidemiology text books with accompanying chapters in those books that the workbook chapter may supplement. The general learning outcomes (LOs) for this workbook are: 1. Become familiar with basic concepts and definitions commonly used in epidemiology 2. Define a public health problem 3. Identify appropriate uses and limitations of data and research design strategies for solving public health problems 4. Make relevant inferences from quantitative and qualitative data 5. Distinguish between statistical association and cause-effect relationships 6. Measure and describe patterns of disease incidence, prevalence, and mortality 7. Identify environmental factors and behaviors associated with health-related states or events 8. Be familiar with the steps for investigating disease outbreaks 9. Identify, calculate, and interpret common indices used in identifying the health status 10. Evaluate program effectiveness 11. Critically assess epidemiological research 12. Be able to communicate health findings Each chapter features: • 10-20 mastery check questions with detailed answers • 5 optional problems • A case study • A multiple choice, short answer quiz. (Answers to the cases and quizzes are provided as part of the online instructor resource package.)

Ray M. Merrill, Ph.D., M.P.H. has been actively involved in epidemiology and biostatisticssince his professional career began in 1995. As a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, he worked with leading researchers in the area of cancer epidemiology. In 1998 he joined the faculty in the Department of Health Science at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, where he continued his research in epidemiology. Since 1999 he has also held an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah. In 2001, he spent a sabbatical working in the Unit of Epidemiology for Cancer Prevention at the International Agency for Research on Cancer Administration, Lyon, France. He has won various awards for his research in cancer epidemiology. Dr. Merrillcurrently teaches introductory and advanced level classes in epidemiology and biostatistics. He has over 100 professional publications in epidemiology and public health journals. He is currently a full professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Brigham Young University.