Epidemiology Question 2022

Running head: Epidemiology 1
Epidemiology
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Epidemiology 2
QUESTIONS
1. What is the research question of this study? (2 marks)
What is the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and atopic disease in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander (indigenous) and non-indigenous children in the Australian Capital Territory
(ACT).
2. What type of design was used to complete this study? Please give as much detail
in terms of the general design as you can. (3 marks)
The study used a two-stage questionnaire survey in which children living in the Australian
Capital Territory (ACT) were surveyed. Stage 1 involved the collection of demographic details
and the design of standard items to evaluate previous incidences of respiratory diseases in
addition to asthma reports by the parent. Stage 2 consisted of a more comprehensive
questionnaire on asthma management, presence of environmental risk factors, asthma action
plan, and optimization of health service. Respiratory symptoms were measured using a parental
questionnaire. Three years of data were combined and analyzed.
3. Was the overall study design appropriate for the research question? Please
explain your answer fully. (3 marks)
The two-stage questionnaire survey design was appropriate for the research question because it is
a reliable method of inquiry (Brace, 2018). This is because surveys are standardized and
questions are framed the same way. Thus, it is easy to analyze the outcomes since the
participants are subjected to the same question (Bryman, 2016). Surveys are also versatile in the

Epidemiology 3
sense that they can be used by a range of individuals. The study design was appropriate because
it allowed the researcher to collect data from a large sample, and thus making generalizability
possible (Groves et al., 2011; Biemer, 2010).
4. What was the population of interest? (3 marks)
Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in the Australian Capital Territory
5. Do you think the sample sizes of the surveys for the two groups of interest have
an impact on the quality of the study? (2 marks)
The sample sizes of the indigenous and non-indigenous groups have a significant impact on the
quality of the study. First, the sample sizes for the Indigenous and non-indigenous groups was
217 and 10,604 in part 1 of the study respectively, whereas it was 216 and 14,202 for indigenous
and non-indigenous groups in part 2 respectively. The sample size for the Indigenous group was
too small compared to that of the non-indigenous group. A small sample size reduces the power
of the study and raises the margin of error, thus making the study of no value. Additionally, the
small sample size increases the possibility of encountering Type II error thus skewing the
outcomes and reducing the power of the study. On the other hand, the sample size for the non-
Indigenous was too high; an aspect that also affects the quality of the research. The use of many
cases in statistics causes a significant increase in the analysis power because these statistical tests
are designed to handle samples. As a result, there is a high possibility of rejecting the null
hypothesis with statistically insignificant variations. In other words, an insignificant test is
interpreted as significant (Malterud, Siersma, & Guassora, 2016; Suresh & Chandrashekara,
2012).