Advanced Epidemiology Questions 2022

Advanced Epidemiology 1
ADVANCED EPIDEMIOLOGY
by Student’s Name
96705 Advanced Epidemiology
Professor’s Name
University of Technology, Sydney
Australia
Date

Advanced Epidemiology 2
Advanced Epidemiology
Question No. 1.
(a) This is an analytical study. An analytical study is the one in which relationships are
used to test the hypothesis and to find out the effect of one variable on the other (Little, 2014).
Relative risk ratio is used for the types of studies in which relative risk is identified and
compared (Schnell, 2019). Comparison of the people with and without brain cancers will be
analyzed to find out the relative risk and relative risk ratio will be used for this purpose.
(b) This study is a cohort study. A cohort study is the one in which disease-free people
are taken and if they are exposed or not to the risk factors, their results are studied after a couple
of years (MacGil, 2018). A relative risk ratio is also used for a cohort study and it will be used in
this case as well. A follow up after many years is a characteristic of the cohort study.
(c)This study is ecological. An ecological study is the one in which variables are
measured at a broader group level and not at individual levels (PenState, 2019). Associations for
this study cannot be done at the individual levels. Correlation is used to find out the relationship
between these two variables. The variables are generalized and all the research is done at the
macro level in which no individuals are studied but research is done at the national level.
(d)This study is descriptive. In descriptive research design, researchers try to find out a
relationship between an ailment and its reason (Explorable, 2019). Correlational research can be
done to find out the relation between the two variables and to find out any association between
them (Lumen, 2019). To know the relationship between the two variables Ascaris lumbricoides
and household reach to tap water, the correlational analysis will be made.

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Question No. 2.
(a)This study design is the observational study design. In observational study designs, no
interventions are considered by the researcher and he observes the changes and the differences
that occur (Sauro, 2015). In this study, an observation was made on the risk factors and the
development of cancer among the workers in an asbestos manufacturing facility and the
telephone repairmen services. This study was a Retrospective Cohort-observational research
study because over thirty years, follow-up research was done to know the effects on the
development of cancer. All people in that cohort were free of cancer initially and after 30 years,
a few of them developed cancer.
(b)This study design is the observational one in which the researcher wants to do a cross-
sectional study. A cross-sectional study design is the one in which the researcher wants to study
the outcomes of the disease (Cherry, 2019). The researcher does not alter the results of the
research and collects the facts and figures to make the research authentic, reliable and valid. In
this study, the researcher wants to find out the reasons why kids get jaundice and she also
selected those kids who were newly born, to get the accurate results whether or not there were
any associations between the infections being transferred from the mothers. This cross-sectional
study is used to know the risk factors and the association of these variables to some independent
variables. In this research, the reliability and validity of the results can be checked if there is any
possibility to construct relationships between the occurrence of jaundice and the records taken
from the mothers of those kids.
(c)This study is an experimental one because, in this study, the effects of the medicine
erythromycin are being studied whether they cause any negative effects on the health of the
pregnant mothers or not because the effects on their health would reduce the weights of the

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newborn kids. A randomized controlled trial is used to study the experiment result because the
intervention is not defined for the females selected to test the results of the medicines which the
pregnant females are taking during their pregnancies. This is just to find out the effects and to
know the overall results that might cause any positive or negative effects on the health of the
newborn kids. Ethical consideration is taken into account while doing this kind of research and
without ethical considerations, this research loses its meanings and effectivity.
Question No. 3.
(a)
(i)A randomized controlled trial was the outcome measure of the study. Randomized
control measure is known as the gold standard and the purpose of their selection may and not be
to provide the group of individuals a treatment (MacGill, 2018). These groups are selected from
the same population. That is why a random sample of the girls was selected from a class register.
(ii) Random sampling was used in the study because, in a random sampling technique, all
the individuals have a probability that they might be chosen without any restriction. The
researchers choose the random individuals for his study as in the case, 100 girls from class 9th
were selected randomly from a secondary school. No girl had any preference for being selected.
(iii)The inclusive criteria are the one which decides whether a randomly selected
individual will become a part of the study or not. This is decided based on the presence of the
variable which is the main concern of the study (Franz Porzsolt, 2019). The inclusive criteria of
the study are the presence of rubella antibodies. Without the presence of rubella antibodies, girls
will not be included further in the studies because including them in the study will be of no use
to the researcher.

Advanced Epidemiology 5
(b)
(i)The outcome measure for this study is the use of self-report measures. A self-report
measure is the one in which a questionnaire is used to get the information from the respondents
for the particular research type (Salters Pedneault, 2019). In this study, a survey was done to
know about access to hospitals and healthcare for the kids who were under 5 years of age.
(ii)In this study, the multistage sampling was used. The multistage sampling is the kind of
sampling in which sampling is done twice or thrice or more is done to draw a precise sample
which gives accurate results. In this study, among the countries, one was selected and among the
15 regions, only 6 regions were selected. Further, 5% of households were picked from the
selected 6 regions. Then a final survey was done.
(iii)The inclusion criteria were dependent on the households which had kids under the
age of 5 years. Those households which did not have any kids were used as exclusion criteria.
Because the purpose of the survey was to know the access to healthcare of those who have kids
in their houses and for the better health of their kids, they need to seek services of the healthcare.
Question No. 4.
This is an observational Retrospective cohort study finding out the reasons for the suicide
rates in 50 Australian doctors. 15 young Physicians are selected as a control group to know the
validity of the results. Retrospective cohort studies are done when the population has faced some
issues in the past and now their effect is being studied and a control group is used to test the
results of the scientific experiments to generalize those on the whole overall group (Webb,
2016).
In Australia, doctors and especially physicians are at danger of suicide rates because they
have to face severe competition and due to the constant pressures in their lives, the rate of suicide

Advanced Epidemiology 6
has become greater than ever before. Other reasons that account for suicide attempts are
pessimism in physicians because they do not have sufficient time for their families and social
interactions, long working hours without any adequate breaks, fewer compensations and high
expenses, mental health issues, stress, high levels of anxiety and not taking care of themselves.
The results show that all these factors accumulate and disturb the mental functioning and normal
living of the physicians in Australia and increased pessimism tend them to think about suicide
attacks and they even end up their lives to get rid of the fast-paced and ill-living lives. It is
suggested to work for the wellbeing and mental peace of the physicians because they have come
from a very tough studies background and if they are not provided care and good environment at
work, their productivity will be reduced and they even can push themselves to the heights of
disappointment leading to suicide. Addressing the personal issues of the physicians can save
their lives and they can better serve the Australian society. Australian Medical Student
Association has also put suggestions in this regard (Molloy, 2018).
Reference List

Advanced Epidemiology 7
Cherry, K., 2019. Cross-Sectional Research Method: How Does It Work?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cross-sectional-study-2794978
Explorable, 2019. Descriptive Research Design. [Online]
Available at: https://explorable.com/descriptive-research-design
Franz Porzsolt, F. W. S. I. B. C. J. R., 2019. Inclusion and exclusion criteria and the problem of
describing homogeneity of study populations in clinical trials. BMJ Journal, Volume 24, pp. 92-
94.
Little, T. A., 2014. Design of Experiments for Analytical Method Development and Validation.
BioPharm International, 27(3).
Lumen, 2019. Types of Research Studies. [Online]
Available at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/types-of-
research-studies/
MacGill, M., 2018. What is a randomized controlled trial?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280574.php
MacGil, M., 2018. What is a cohort study in medical research?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/281703.php
Molloy, S., 2018. There are serious problems in our medical industry with an alarming number
of doctors taking their own lives. [Online]
Available at: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/mind/there-are-serious-problems-in-our-
medical-industry-with-an-alarming-number-of-doctors-taking-their-own-lives/news-story/
ce098d0408daaef6cde812389230e2df
PenState, 2019. What is an ecological study?. [Online]
Available at: https://newonlinecourses.science.psu.edu/stat507/node/44/
Salters Pedneault, K., 2019. The Use of Self-Report Data in Psychology. [Online]
Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/definition-of-self-report-425267
Sauro, J., 2015. 4 TYPES OF OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH. [Online]
Available at: https://measuringu.com/observation-role/
Schnell, A., 2019. The Difference Between Relative Risk and Odds Ratios. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theanalysisfactor.com/the-difference-between-relative-risk-and-odds-
ratios/
Webb, P. B. C. P. A., 2016. Essential Epidemiology: An Introduction for Students and Health
Professionals. 3rd ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

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