Epidemiology 2 (POPH90242)

This subject is a core subject within the Master of Science (Epidemiology) and an elective within the Master of Public Health, the Master of Environment, and the Master of Biostatistics. 

Epidemiology 2 is an in-depth exploration of research study design and development. Within this subject, students will learn contemporary approaches to designing studies for clinical and public health research and analysing their results.  

Students will develop the skills to design and critique a variety of experimental and observational studies (cluster randomised controlled trials, randomised controlled trial variants, case control study variants and ecological studies). Complex causal diagrams will be introduced to assist with identifying confounders and assessing bias. Students learn how to apply quantitative bias analyses to quantify the direction and magnitude of bias in clinical and public health studies.  

Additionally, the concept of a target trial will be introduced, and students will learn to apply this method in their future research. Alongside the target trial approach, students will learn the latest analytic strategies to control for confounding, including g-computation and inverse proportional weighting. 

The subject will also cover the concept of effect-measure modification and how it differs from interaction, and its impact on external validity. By the end of the course, students will be able to estimate the potential effects of population and clinical interventions on a wider population.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to:

• Judge the impact of effect measure modification on external validity and the implementation of population and clinical interventions
• Assess confounding and collider bias by creating causal diagrams
• Apply standardisation, inverse probability weighting and g-computation to control for confounding
• Apply quantitative bias techniques to quantify the direction and magnitude of bias
• Design experimental and observational epidemiological studies
• Critique experimental and observational epidemiological studies

Generic skills

• Utilisation of relevant software (Excel and Stata)
• Written communication skills
• Problem solving
• Working with uncertainty
• Analytic skills
• Applying concepts to practical scenarios