Study Designs contd.

Question 1

What is a cross sectional design?

What data collection tool does it typically use?

Answer 1

• taken at one point in time

- A survey

Question 2

What are some limitations of CS designs?

Answer 2

1. Does not address causal questions

2. Can be expensive to conduct

Question 3

What can CS address?

Answer 3

Descriptive questions about population health or public attitudes towards something.

Studies of association- we can look at survey data to examine associations between variables

Question 4

When can we apply CS design to PH?

Answer 4

When we have an appropriate rep sample of pop

When we use an valid and reliable survey

Question 5

What is an observational design?
What collection tools does it typically include?
What depth of data does it generate?

Answer 5

studying behaviours in as natural a setting as possible.

Eg. cross sectional or cohort sudies, ethnographic studies etc).

Interviews paired with observation.

Rich, deep info about a context.

Question 6

Name some limitations to observational studies? (2)

Answer 6

Time consuming

Limited in terms of generability of findings

Question 7

What is a documentary approach?

Answer 7

uses existing sources of data