M2S1 Applying A Critical Lens To Health Research Flashcards
Critical scholar definition
A person who challenges aspects of existing structures that others accept without questions
4 key questions critical scholars should ask
-how do we know this to be true?
-are there other ways to understand this?
-whose knowledge is this?
-how do I judge the quality of the evidence in support of this knowledge?
Applying a critical lens to health research
First things to consider:
Definitions of health
-what definitions are authors using for health?
-are they considering a broad or narrow definition of health?
-is their definition grounded in a particular cultural understanding?
Ex. Notice author referring to health but describing this as physical health only, or use narrow definition of physical health (ex. Blood pressure readings)
Health data
-what health indicators are the authors using?
Ex. Might be reading about infant mortality or under-five child mortality as health indicators at national level. Do these reflect a broad or narrow definition?
What is health indicators
Measurable charactertics of a population that researchers use as supporting evidence for describing the health of a population
Measurement of health status
-health status indicators are markers or measurement tools that allow for common measurement across boundaries
They facilitate epidemiological surveillance and help answer questions like
-how much disease out there?
-how much morbidity (illness) is attributable to specific causes?
Mortality is usually easier to measure than morbidity. Thus researchers normally start there
Key health indicators: life expectancy at birth
-often used as health indicator at a population level
-important to note that is relative narrow view of health given that life expectancy is only about the length of a person’s life and not the quality of life that the person is able to live
-life expectancy at birth, however is comparable statistic across geographies and this why it used
-rates vary by region and this largely linked to levels of health development
Key health indicators: under-5 mortality rate
-under-5 mortality rate is probability that child born in a specific year or period will die before reaching the age of 5 years, and is expressed per 1000 live births
-“per 1000 live births” is really about comparability rather than specificity
-also allows you to compare values across different regions with vastly different overall number of deaths, brings value to a similar scale
-in other words, for every 1000 babies born alive, how many children do not survive until their fifth birthday?
Vital statistics
Records of births and deaths
Vital statistics explained
-health data based on assumption that vital statistics are recorded everywhere, not always case
-ex. Some parts of world like South Asia or sub-Saharan Africa only about 1/4 of children in the poorest quintile families (children in 20% poorest families) have their birth registered. Even some children in richest quintile of these regions are not registered. Most likely mean death records not entirely accurate. As a result, the understanding of health when using mortality statistics will be somewhat flawed
Methodologies in health studies and their categories
- many different approaches to collecting evidence in health studies
-2 main categories
Quantitative
-process of collecting and analyzing data that is mainly expressed as numbers
-type of research consists of close-ended questions and allow you to test hypothesis
-sources of quantitative health data include: vital statistics, surveys, administrative health records
Qualitative
-process of collecting and analyzing data that is mainly expressed as words or images
-type of research consists of open-end questions and enables you to explore ideas in-depth
-sources of qualitative health data include: interviews, focus groups, community-based participatory studies
Critical appraisal of knowledge
-the process of carefully and systematically assessing the outcome of scientific research (evidence) to judge its trustworthiness, value and relevance in a particular context
-are structured approaches to critically appraising all different types of studies and this is important to acces the quality of any evidence and knowledge base
Critical appraisal of knowledge and questions to ask to determine if research accurate, merit and applicible
- Is this evidence from a known, reputable source?
- Has the evidence been evaluated in any way? If so, how and by who?
- How up-to-date is the evidence?
- How were things measured and were these methods appropriate and trustworthy?
- Are the findings generalizable (broadly relevant) beyond the original context the evidence was collected in?
- Is this knowledge biased in some way? If so, how, how much, and what does this mean for your interpretation or use of it?
