Topics covered: measures of disease frequency and association, standardization and misclassification, observational study designs, confounding and effect modification, causal reasoning and diagrams
By means of lectures, exercises and skills training sessions the following topics in observational research will be covered extensively: observational research designs and their advantages and disadvantages (case-control studies, cohort studies, nested case-control and case-cohort designs, and cross-sectional research); measures of disease frequency and association; choosing among designs; exposure measurement in observational research and potential misclassification; sources of bias in various designs (selection bias, confounding, and information bias); quantification of methodological phenomena such as confounding and effect modification, including stratified and matched analyses; standardization; causal reasoning and causal diagrams; and reporting guidelines for observational research.
Assessment: group work and written exam
