studies- lqc 7b

Question 1

what is an epidemiologist

Answer 1

A scientist who studies the patterns and occurrences of diseases. They look for and investigate relationships and correlations between a disease and specific risk factors

Question 2

what people does a cohort study follow

Answer 2

Follow a large group of people over a period of time – a large number of years, perhaps over generations (very expensive).

Question 3

what information is gathered in a cohort study

Answer 3

Identify who develops the disease and who do not.

Question 4

what is recorded in a cohort study

Answer 4

People’s exposure to suspected risk factors and whether they develop the disease are recorded.

Question 5

what is identified in a cohort study

Answer 5

Identify any correlations between the risk factors and the disease development.

Question 6

are cohort studys prospective or retrospective?

Answer 6

Prospective – none of the participants have the disease at the start

Question 7

who is involved in a case-controlled study?

Answer 7

A group of people with the disease (cases) are compared with a control group (no disease)

Question 8

what information is gathered for a case-controlled study

Answer 8

Information is gathered about which risk factors both groups have been exposed to in the past.

Question 9

what is identified in a case-controlled study?

Answer 9

Identify risk factors that may have contributed to the disease development.

Question 10

what do control groups need to be representative of

Answer 10

Control group needs to be representative of the wider population

Question 11

what are they looking for in a case-control study?

Answer 11

Match for certain factors i.e. same age, gender, level of exercise

Question 12

is a case-control study prospective or retrospective?

Answer 12

Retrospective – identify what could have contributed to the disease by looking back in time

Question 13

what is the importance of a clear aim when designing a good study

Answer 13

Need to design the study to be able to answer the hypothesis and produce reliable & valid results

Question 14

what is the importance of a representative sample when designing a good study

Answer 14

Must come from the wider population for who the results of the study will be applied to i.e. same age group or gender
To avoid selection bias i.e. only investigating people on the electoral register

Question 15

what is the importance of a large sample size when designing a good study

Answer 15

Must be large enough to produce results that could not have occurred by chance
The larger the sample size, the more reliable the data, allowing better statistical analysis
Higher probability of identifying a rare risk factor

Question 16

what is the importance of validity when designing a good study

Answer 16

Did the study measure what it set out to measure i.e. were valid blood pressure measurements made with appropriate equipment
Control variables were included
Large sample size was used

Question 17

what is the importance of reliability when designing a good study

Answer 17

The results gained are repeatable and reproducible – low standard deviation in the data
A larger sample size provides better reliability as it reduces differences due to genetic variation in the sample

Question 18

what is the importance of control variables when designing a good study

Answer 18

Needed so that the independent variable (the risk factor) being investigated in the study is the only variable contributing to the development of the disease

Question 19

what is the importance of a control group when designing a good study

Answer 19

for comparison