Epidemiology & Analytic Methods 2

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject consolidates the basic principles covered in “Epidemiology and Analytic Methods I” and develops a more substantial understanding of epidemiological research, and in particular of the key concepts of confounding, information bias, standardisation, stratification and methods of statistical inference used in basic epidemiological analysis. Students are introduced to analytic methods for comparison of means and proportions between groups, to stratified analyses and to tests of association using the Stata statistical software package

Subject Objectives: On completion of this subject, students are expected to:
• Understand error, bias and confounding
• Understand how sampling variability underpins statistical inference in hypothesis testing
• Use correct data summary methods and terminology for reporting health information and the findings of data analyses
• Compute and interpret confidence intervals and p-values for differences in means and proportions
• Understand simple statistical methods for the control of confounding
• Compute standardised measures of disease frequency
• Compute Mantel-Haenszel estimators and tests for homogeneity
• Assess the quality of the data and the interpretation of confidence intervals and p-values in the published literature.
• Calculate sample sizes for estimating and comparing means and proportions

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject, students are expected to:
• Develop basic problem solving and analytical skills
• Develop the epidemiological frameworks to recognise and describe research methods
• Become familiar with the language and terminology used in epidemiology
• Develop skills in written communication including basic methods for statistical summary and description of epidemiological data
• Develop the ability to plan and prioritise reading and assessment tasks

Special computer skills required: Students are expected to have experience using the Stata statistical package for data managements and basic descriptive statistics.

This subject, taken in conjunction with 505-969 Epidemiology and Analytic Methods I, replaces 505-101 and 505-102 as a core subject for the MPH Epidemiology and Biostatistics stream.

Subject Coordinator: Dr Jane Hocking 8344 9324