Study Design in Etiologic Research

This course is a core component of any Master’s degree in Epidemiology, and is also key to being able to follow specialized courses in epidemiology. Its aim is for you to learn about the principles and practice of cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies. We will discuss design, data collection and outcome measures, as well as the major advantages and disadvantages of the different study designs. The emphasis will be on the application of study design in etiologic research.

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Explain the principles, design and validity aspects of a cohort study, a case-control study and a cross-sectional study
• Interpret the measures of frequency and association from cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies

In particular, you should be able to:

• Calculate the corresponding measures of frequency and association, and explain these calculations
• Explain the modern designs used instead of the classical case-control study (e.g. case-cohort study or case-crossover study)
• Explain the methods of data collection in the different study designs
• Explain the specific aspects of study design in veterinary epidemiology as compared to human epidemiology (e.g. clustering of animals and the effects this has on study design, measurement of exposure status, disease status and confounders, and the selection of the study population)
• Appraise scientific abstracts and papers on the choice of study design, and debate the relevant validity aspects
• Design an appropriate study to be used in a specific situation or to answer an etiologic study question