In: Statistics and Probability
why do epidemiologists often compare the associations to determine if confounding is present even if it poses an issue in observational etiologic and nonrandomized interventional studies?
Each epidemiological investigation follows the same general rules of research design and methodology. First, the problem must be identified or the research question must be stated.
Study designs used in observational epidemiology include case reports, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, and cohort studies. Studies can be designed to be retrospective or prospective. In all of these study designs, sampling, or how people are or are not chosen to be studied, is an important issue. It is a primary way to differentiate among designs.
the determination that an association is causal indicates the possibility for intervention. We review and comment on the long-used guidelines for interpreting evidence as supporting a causal association and contrast them with the potential outcomes framework that encourages thinking in terms of causes that are interventions.
Epidemiological study designs also can be described according to a number of different aspects. One aspect is whether the study is observational or experimental. Investigators in observational studies may plan and identify variables to be measured, but human intervention is not a part of the process.
Observational epidemiology provides information about disease patterns or drug use problems by various characteristics of person, place, and time. This approach is used by public health professionals for efficient allocation of resources and to target populations for education, prevention, and treatment programs. It also is used by epidemiologists to generate hypotheses regarding the causes of disease or drug use problems.
the results of types of observational studies that have been very useful in the past and to damage the teaching of epidemiological reasoning.