ecological studies

Question 1

what can these also be called

Answer 1

correlation studies

Question 2

what do ecological studies do

Answer 2

compare exposures and outcomes across groups not individuals

Question 3

what are ecological studies used for

Answer 3

to compare between groups, to assess population-level factors, to consider hypotheses

Question 4

advantages of ecological studies

Answer 4

Depends on the research question
* Population level exposures
* Consideration of hypotheses
* Data is often routinely collected
* May be relatively easy to do
* May be relatively inexpensive

Question 5

limits of ecological studies

Answer 5

ecological fallacy, cannot control for confounding, cannot show causation

Question 6

what does ecological study mean

Answer 6

the fact that a group level study so you cannot trace group specific data back to specific people