Quantitative Methods for Health Research

A Practical Interactive Guide to Epidemiology and Statistics

Daniel Pope, Debbi Stanistreet, Nigel Bruce

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781118665411
• eBook ISBN: 9781118665404
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Pharmacology

A practical introduction to epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology for the whole health care community

This comprehensive text, which has been extensively revised with new material and additional topics, utilizes a practical slant to introduce health professionals and students to epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology. It draws examples from a wide range of topics, covering all of the main contemporary health research methods, including survival analysis, Cox regression, and systematic reviews and meta-analysis—the explanation of which go beyond introductory concepts. This second edition of Quantitative Methods for Health Research: A Practical Interactive Guide to Epidemiology and Statistics also helps develop critical skills that will prepare students to move on to more advanced and specialized methods.

A clear distinction is made between knowledge and concepts that all students should ensure they understand, and those that can be pursued further by those who wish to do so. Self-assessment exercises throughout the text help students explore and reflect on their understanding. A program of practical exercises in SPSS (using a prepared data set) helps to consolidate the theory and develop skills and confidence in data handling, analysis, and interpretation. Highlights of the book include:

• Combining epidemiology and bio-statistics to demonstrate the relevance and strength of statistical methods
• Emphasis on the interpretation of statistics using examples from a variety of public health and health care situations to stress relevance and application
• Use of concepts related to examples of published research to show the application of methods and balance between ideals and the realities of research in practice
• Integration of practical data analysis exercises to develop skills and confidence
• Supplementation by a student companion website which provides guidance on data handling in SPSS and study data sets as referred to in the text

Quantitative Methods for Health Research, Second Edition is a practical learning resource for students, practitioners and researchers in public health, health care and related disciplines, providing both a course book and a useful introductory reference. 

1
Philosophy of Science and Introduction to Epidemiology

Introduction and Learning Objectives

In this chapter, we will begin by looking at different approaches to scientific research, how these have arisen, and the importance of recognising that there is no single, right way to carry out investigations in the health field. Rather, we will see that different perspectives can be complementary in providing a more complete understanding of any given issue. We will then go on to explore the research task, discuss what is meant by epidemiology and statistics, and look at how these two disciplines are introduced and developed in the book. The next section introduces the concept of rates for measuring the frequency of disease or characteristics we are interested in, and in particular the terms incidence and prevalence. These definitions and uses of rates are fundamental ideas with which you should be familiar before we look in more detail at research methods and study design. In the final section, we will look at key concepts in disease prevention, including the commonly used terms primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

The reason for starting with a brief exploration of the nature of scientific methods is to see how historical and social factors have influenced the biomedical and social research traditions that we take for granted today. This will help you understand your own perceptions of, and assumptions about, health research, based on the knowledge and experience you have gained to date. It will also help you understand the scientific approach being taken in this book and how this both complements and differs from that developed in books and courses on qualitative research methods – as and when you may choose to study these. Being able to draw on a range of research traditions and their associated methods is especially important for the discipline of public health, but it is also important for many other aspects of health and health care.

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Learning Objectives

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By the end of this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

• Briefly describe the key differences between the main approaches to research that are used in the health field.
• Describe what is meant by epidemiology, and list the main uses to which epidemiological methods and thought can be put.
• Describe what is meant by statistics, and list the main uses to which statistical methods and thought can be put.
• Define and calculate rates, prevalence, and incidence, and give examples of their use.
• Define primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention and give examples of each.

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1.1 Approaches to Scientific Research

1.1.1 History and Nature of Scientific Research

Scientific research in health has a long history going back at least to the classical period. There are threads of continuity, as well as new developments in thinking and techniques, that can be traced from the ancient Greeks and through the fall of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance to the present time. At each stage, science has influenced, and has been influenced by, the culture and philosophy of the time. Modern scientific methods reflect these varied historical and social influences. So it is useful to begin this brief exploration of scientific health research by reflecting on our own perceptions of science and how our own views of the world fit with the various ways research can be approached. As you read this chapter you might like to think about the following questions:

• What do you understand by the terms science and scientific research, especially in relation to health?
• How has your understanding of research developed?
• What type of research philosophy best fits your view of the world and the health issues you are most interested in?

Thinking about the answers to these questions will help you understand what we are trying to achieve in this section and how this can best support the research interests that you have and are likely to develop in the years to come. The history and philosophy of science is of course a whole subject in its own right, and this is of necessity a very brief introduction.

Scientific Reasoning and Epidemiology

Health research involves many different scientific disciplines, many of which you will be familiar with from previous training and experience. Here we are focusing principally on epidemiology, which is concerned with the study of the distribution and determinants of disease within and between populati...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright
• Preface
• About the Companion Website
• 1 Philosophy of Science and Introduction to Epidemiology
• 2 Routine Data Sources and Descriptive Epidemiology
• 3 Standardisation
• 4 Surveys
• 5 Cohort Studies
• 6 Case–Control Studies
• 7 Intervention Studies
• 8 Life Tables, Survival Analysis, and Cox Regression
• 9 Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis
• 10 Prevention Strategies and Evaluation of Screening
• 11 Probability Distributions, Hypothesis Testing, and Bayesian Methods
• Bibliography
• Index
• EULA