Advanced Study Design and Analysis in Population Health Sciences

3 Units

How do researchers design and analyze population health studies? This course covers essential and cutting edge epidemiological and biostatistical principles and methods for health research. Goals are for students to build a strong foundation for conducting their own research, develop as effective interdisciplinary research team members, and become critical readers of the health literature. This course will rely on, and expand on, the epidemiology background provided in PQHS 490 and the biostatistics methods from PQHS 431 . The focus of this course is on study designs for, and the analysis and interpretation of, observational studies. Causal inference and the potential outcomes/counterfactual framework provides a unifying theme. Specific topics include causal diagrams, cohort and case-control study designs, confounding, effect modification, time-dependent covariates, bias, mediation analysis, Mendelian randomization, and sensitivity analysis. A premise of the course is that students learn best by active engagement, and this will be effected in the course by participation in discussions and in carrying out study designs and data analyses. Prereq: PQHS 490 or MPHP 490 .