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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

David W. Smith, PhD, MPH, Biostatistics, San Antonio Regional Campus, University of Texas School of Public Health, 8550 Datapoint, Suite 200, San Antonio, TX 78229, 210-56-5512, smithd2@uthscsa.edu and Stephanie L. McFall, PhD, Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, San Antonio Regional Campus, University of Texas School of Public Health, 8550 Datapoint, Suite 200, San Antonio, TX 78229.

Public health makes extensive use of survey data for surveillance and assessment with increasing use by local agencies. Public health students at the masters level frequently lack skills to conduct appropriate statistical analyses of prominent health surveys such as the BRFSS and the NHIS. We developed a course, building upon the basic MPH core courses in biostatistics and behavioral sciences, to “jump start” central skills in survey research methods and to provide a foundation for an MPH thesis. The three major components of the course are: questionnaire design and testing, sample design, and analysis of an individually selected problem from the BRFSS, the NHIS, or, sometimes, another major national health survey. The course was not designed to provide the in-depth skills of courses in either questionnaire design or survey sampling. About half of the course is the “analysis workshop” in which students present portions of their analyses and related problems and discoveries. In this presentation, we describe the course outline, assignments, and resources. We present examples of analyses conducted by students for the course and for their theses. We end with recommendations for others interested in our model. Based on our three implementations of this course we conclude that students can understand the importance of complex sample design and use appropriate methods for practical analysis of survey data.

Learning Objectives:

• To identify the major components of education in survey design and analysis in public health.
• To describe recommendations for executing teaching models for complex statistical methods.

Keywords: Teaching, Survey

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation