Special Study Designs

Special Study Designs

The design and methodology used should be appropriate for the epidemiological study being conducted. Investigations of infectious diseases, for example, often use dynamic modeling to account for parameters of infectiousness and transmission. Dynamic modeling accounts for the fact that people may move in and out of an infectious state—that is, their disease status may change over a short period of time. Conversely, as a method of assessing chronic disease risks, epidemiologists consider factors that occur over the life course.

It is important for public health professionals to understand the strengths and limitations of these study designs and methods. This gives them a better chance to correctly interpret results and synthesize them for use in developing and implementing evidence-based public health programs.

For this Discussion, you explore the application of various special study designs. Review two of the following articles, with a critical eye toward the researchers’ use of their selected methods:

• Cori, A., Boëlle, P.-Y., Thomas, G., Leung, G. M., & Valleron, A.-J. (2009). Temporal variability and social heterogeneity in disease transmission: The case of SARS in Hong Kong. PLoS Computational Biology, 5(8), e1000471.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Lebel, A., Pampalon, R., Hamel, D., & Thériault, M. (2009). The geography of overweight in Quebec: A multilevel perspective. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 100(1), 18–23.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Middleton, L. E., Barnes, D. E., Lui, L., & Yaffe, K. (2010). Physical activity over the life course and its association with cognitive performance and impairment in old age. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 58(7), 1322–1326.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Preisig, M., Waeber, G., Vollenweider, P., Bovet, P., Rothen, S., Vandeleur, C., & … Muglia, P. (2009). The PsyCoLaus study: Methodology and characteristics of the sample of a population-based survey on psychiatric disorders and their association with genetic and cardiovascular risk factors. BMC Psychiatry, 9, 9.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Suzuki, K., Kondo, N., Sato, M., Tanaka, T., Ando, D., & Yamagata, Z. (2011). Gender differences in the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and childhood growth trajectories: Multilevel analysis. International Journal of Obesity, 35(1), 53–59.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Zlotnick, C., Tam, T. W., & Soman, L. A. (2012). Life course outcomes on mental and physical health: The impact of foster care on adulthood. American Journal of Public Health, 102(3), 534–540.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Zuidgeest, M. G., van Dijk, L., Spreeuwenberg, P., Smit, H. A., Brunekreef, B., Arets, H. G., Bracke, M., & Leufkens, H. G. M. (2009). What drives prescribing of asthma medication to children? A multilevel population-based study. Annals of Family Medicine, 7(1), 32–40.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Post a description of the two studies you selected, including their research questions, study population, results, and conclusions. Describe one strength and one limitation of each study design and/or methodological approach. Identify any measures that the authors used to minimize the limitation. Finally, propose an additional study using one of your chosen article’s study designs and methods to address a topic of interest to you. Justify your proposal using the Learning Resources and current literature.

PAPER MUST BE AT LEAST 600 WORDS

………………Answer Preview……………..

Physical activity over the life course and its association with cognitive performance and impairment in old age

In this research, the researchers were able to investigate on the issue of whether the increased activity during young age was a factor that contributed to better cognitive performance in old age. This was something that lead to the question how active were you while you were in the different stages of your life among them teenage as well as the adulthood. This is an important factor that is research on its effect to the well being of the person when they get older. The study population was 9,344 women…….

APA

770 words