FHE5120 – Project Planning and Appraisal of Epidemiological Studies

Course content

The course provides in-depth knowledge and skills in the application of quantitative methodologies used in the study of health and health services and enable the students to develop protocols for their master degree dissertations. The course enable students to critically evaluate epidemiological literature. Through lectures and seminars, students apply both theoretical and practical aspects of quantitative methods, designs, analyses and presentations. Students will attain epidemiological knowledge that renders them a valuable partner for planning and carrying out epidemiological research.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

After completing the course, you will be able to:

• explain different epidemiological study designs and how to apply them
• explain bias in epidemiological studies
• interpret power calculations for quantitative studies
• explain the use of Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs)
• infer relevant literatures for your thesis
• have general knowledge in how to write an abstract, introduction, methodology, findings and discussion of a master thesis and scientific article

Skills

• after completing the course, you will be able to:
• conduct a literature review
• critically review epidemiological research articles
• incorporate previous literature into your own research
• develop the quantitative research question for your master project
• develop the quantitative research design for your master project
• select the variables to be used in your master project
• use DAGs to identify potential bias in your own projects when planning your research
• choose statistical models and tests, and epidemiologic measures appropriate for your own data
• calculate appropriate sample size in your own study, using online calculators and statistical programs

General competence

• after completing the course, you will be able to:
• reflect upon ethical and scientific standards of quantitative research
• critically evaluate the role of quantitative research within health and health services
• appreciate the role of epidemiological methodology in health research and generating evidence to inform policy and programing

Admission to the course

This course is only available for students at Folkehelsevitenskap og epidemiologi (master – to år)

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Recommended previous knowledge

• INTHE4020 – Introduction to Quantitative Methods; or equivalent
• INTHE4021 – Introduction to Epidemiology; or equivalent
• FHE4110 – Fundamentals in Data Management and Statistics
• FHE4120 – Introduction to Logistic and Cox regression
• FHE4100 – Clinical Epidemiology and Scientific Evidence in Health and Health Care

Overlapping courses

• 2.5 credits overlap with INTHE4023 – Advanced Module in Quantitative Methods.

Teaching

• The course consists of lectures and seminars. In the seminars, the students do exercises, and assignments related to the course.

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Examination

Submission of research protocol for master project.

Examination and grading at The Faculty of Medicine.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.