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Section 4: Study design
Chapter 4.2 Measuring the problem: Basic statistics
Research Methods for Health EDRM
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- Section 4: Study design
- Chapter 4.2 Measuring the problem: Basic statistics
- Chapter 4.1 Basic principles in designing studies to assess the effects of interventions
- Chapter 4.3 Cluster randomized trials
- Chapter 4.4 Collection and management of good quality data
- Chapter 4.5 Advanced statistical techniques
- Chapter 4.6 Health-related risk modelling
- Chapter 4.7 Evaluating economic impacts in health emergency and disaster risk management
- Chapter 4.8 Geographic information systems
- Chapter 4.9 Real-time syndromic surveillance
- Chapter 4.10 Using logic models in research and evaluation of Health EDRM interventions
- Chapter 4.11 Researching communication and communicating research in Health EDRM
- Chapter 4.12 Qualitative research
- Chapter 4.13 Addressing complexity through mixed methods
- Chapter 4.14 Natural experiments in a hazard context
- Chapter 4.15 Monitoring and evaluation
Authors: Garimoi Orach C, Nsenga N, Olu O, Harris M.
Chapter 4.2 describes the following in the context of Health EDRM:
- Basic statistical concepts.
- Epidemiologic study designs.
- Commonly used sampling methods.
- Estimation of sample size.
What is this chapter about?
One of the challenges in conducting research in Health EDRM is the availability of reliable statistical analyses of the data. These analyses can help policy makers and practitioners to make decisions about the use of limited resources and to describe the health status of population groups, quantify disease burden and estimate the effects of interventions.
This chapter covers the basic statistical principles that should be considered when choosing a study design and conducting the study. It includes examples and definitions of topics such as summary statistics, epidemiologic study design, sampling methods and estimation of sample size. The chapter includes a case study showing how data were collected for analysis in a humanitarian setting.
Case studies presented in the chapter:
- Measuring the public health problem in a human-made disaster in South Sudan.
What are the key messages of this chapter?
- Statistical analyses of quantitative data from research studies and the results these generate are vital to a variety of types of research in Health EDRM. They lead to estimating disease burden (to help with the distribution of humanitarian assistance), the health consequences of disasters for populations (to enable planning for future needs) and the effects of interventions, actions, and strategies (to prioritize the elements to include in humanitarian assistance, for example). They often require the contribution of partners with diverse disciplines.
- Practitioners need to understand a variety of methods of data collection and analysis and apply those most relevant to their research question if they are to answer it reliably. This might include surveys, cohort studies, case control studies or experimental studies such as randomized trials for quantitative research and the use of qualitative methods where appropriate.
- Research in emergency settings is constrained by ethical concerns (Chapter 3.4) and limited resources, increasing both the challenges of conducting rigorous epidemiological research and the importance of reliable statistical analysis of the data that are available.