CHL5133H: Evaluating Quantitative Public Health Research

Evidence-based decision making is central to both public health policy and practice, and scientific evidence relevant to public health spans a wide array of disciplines. Public health scientists, policymakers, and practitioners are thus often required to assess research outside their areas of expertise. The contexts in which these assessments are necessary may vary: in interdisciplinary collaborations, in the course of policymaking, and in public health practice. This course serves as an introduction to the evaluation of quantitative public health research for non-specialists. It assumes limited prior knowledge of quantitative health research methodologies The course focuses on critical appraisal of epidemiological research. Students will learn how to systematically and critically examine epidemiological research design, conduct and analysis, and to judge the validity and relevance of research findings. We will work through a range of examples from the current literature in class, and students will also be afforded the opportunity to critically appraise an article/s of their choosing, relevant to their area of interest. We will also consider current internal criticisms of quantitative health research. Amidst mounting concern about poor reliability and non-reproducibility of quantitative research findings, many biomedical scientists, research funders, and publishers have turned critical attention to quantitative research practices. We will examine some of their core concerns from both epistemic and social perspectives.

0.50
Course is eligible to be completed as Credit/No Credit: Yes