Identifying Epidemiological Studies in Literature

Choose an article from one of the following journals:

American Journal of Epidemiology: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/
The Journal of Infectious Diseases: http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/
Journal of Public Health: http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/
Clinical Infectious Diseases: http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/

You must read the full article (not just the abstract).
Choose an article that is peer-reviewed and a primary article (not secondary – see attached). Identify the study type as descriptive (cross-sectional, ecological, case series); analytical (prospective cohort or retrospective cohort) or experimental: (prevention or treatment clinical trial). Define the study type as one of the specific types given in the parentheses. It must be one of these study types.

1. State the type of study that was conducted (see methods section of article, it must be one of the above study types).

2. What is the research question?

3. What was known or unknown before the study was conducted (see introduction of article)?

4. What was the purpose of the study (should be at end of introduction)?

5. What was the outcome and was it consistent with the researcher(s)’ original research question (see results and conclusions)?

6. What recommendation(s) did the researcher offer for future studies (see conclusions)?

7. Do you feel the findings and research design are real and valid? Why or why not? Please review the lesson for this week and your text book readings to understand what is meant by v