Prospectus

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Study designs

Course
2015-2016

Description:
In this course the students will understand the concepts of different study designs including their advantages and disadvantages. Students will learn to distinguish between descriptive and analytic epidemiology as well as prospective and retrospective studies. Also, student will become familiar with several types of epidemiologic observational studies based on e.g. type of sampling, exposure and or disease. Student will learn the advantages and disadvantages of case series and cross sectional studies.
Furthermore, the main principles and practice of cohort (follow-up) and case control studies will be addressed. The course will focus on the classical approach but also addresses modern concepts. The practice of conducting cohort and case-control studies will be discussed with emphasis on issues of validity.

Objectives:
The main objectives of the course are: – Understanding of the main concepts of study designs in general. – Ability to design a cohort or case-control study given a research question. – Ability to discuss research papers with respect to aspects of both internal and external validity.
More specifically:

  • Understand and assess various types of clinical epidemiological study designs.

Teaching formats:
Lectures, working groups, discussions, assignments

Examination:
These lectures lead up to final assignment II: writing a research article.