EXS117 Flashcards
(107 cards)
what is health
A state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity
Define Research
General goal of the research process is to place and carry out a strategy for gathering, analyzing and interpreting data to answer a research question
Basic Research
performed to obtain empirical data that can be used to develop, refine or test a theory
Applied research
geared towards solving immediate practical problems with functional applications and testing theories for directing clinical practice
Quantitative
measuring of outcomes using numerical data under standardized conditions
Advantages:
- summarizes data
- run statistical analysis
Qualitative
concerned with a deep understanding of a phenomenon through narrative description obtained under less structured conditions
Advantages:
- used to describe/ generate theory
- based on open ended questions
Mixed Methods
- Combination of Quantitative and Qualitative
- used for big picture
Independant Variable
manipulated or controlled by a researcher during an experiment
Dependant Variable
measured/ tested in a specific experiment
Nominal Data
categorical assignment of the person/object according to a specific criteria
- no rank/ order
- ex gender, colour
Ordinal Data
categorical assignment with inherent rank, ordered on an operationally defined characteristic or property
-ex pain scale
Interval Data
data that possesses rank-order and demonstrates known and equal distances or interval between units of measurement, no true zero
-ex calendar year, degrees
Ratio Data
data that possesses rank-order , equal distances between the units of measurement and is measured from a true zero
- ex distance, height, weight
Research Process
- identify research question
- design the study (procedures)
- methods (implementation plan)
- data analysis
- communication
What is Epidemiology
The study of the distribution and determinants of diseases within populations
Distribution
How disease distributes within the population.
Determinants
Something that:
- causes a disease
- influences the distribution of a disease within a population (exposure)
Fundamental Assumptions of EPI
Diseases do not distribute randomly in populations, but rather distribute in relation to their determinants
-ex smoking and lung cancer
Primary Prevention
Prevention of a disease/ outcome by eliminating an exposure
Secondary Prevention
measured to prevention onset of a disease/ outcome after exposure has already occurred
Tertiary Prevention
Interventions intended to diminish the impact of disease through measures such as treatment or rehab.
Cross- Sectional Study
Studies in which all data are collected at a single point in time
Strengths
-valuable snapshot of a disease
-cost effective
Weaknesses
-can only determine correlation
-not efficient when studying rare disease
Case Control Study
Compares a group of individuals with disease of interest to a group of individuals without the disease of interest
Strengths
-can study many exposures at once
Weaknesses
-hand picking participants based on disease
Objective
is an adjective, meaning not based on or influenced personal feelings or emotions, but hard, factual evidence