|
|
CHAPTER 1
|
1.1 UNC Case Study on Snow. Complete the John Snow case study at this URL: http://www2.sph.unc.edu/courses/john_snow/prologue.htm [Do not be surprised if the link does not work. UNC periodically changes and/or blocks the link.]
1.2 John Gay's Essay on the Philosophy of Science. Read John Gay's essay on the philosophy of science at http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/courses-jmgay/EpiPhil.htm. After reading the essay address the following questions. (Questions adopted from Prof. Gay's list.)
(A) What is the philosophy underlying science and, ultimately, the progress of public health and society?
(B) What is science?
(C) What is the process of science?
(D) What does the scientific process produce?
(E) How does the scientific community function?
(F) What are scientific laws, theories and hypotheses?
(G) How do the laws of science relate to public health and biomedical practice?
(H) How are scientific theories developed and discarded?
(I) What does it mean when theories proposed to explain a particular interventions are in conflict with more fundamental scientific theories?
(J) What portion of public health is science-based?
1.3 Cancer Undefeated. During the later part of the 20th century in the United States, rates of respiratory cancer skyrocketed , breast cancer rates fluctuated, prostate cancer rates increased, and colorectal cancer rates declined. Read Cancer Undefeated. Then, speculate on the causes of each of these trends.
1.4 Population Pyramids. Go to http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html and construct a current population pyramid for an industrialized country. Then construct a population pyramid for a non-industrialized country. In plain language, compare these two distributions.
1.5 Current Events. Scan a newspaper or a news magazine for examples of a contemporary use of epidemiology. Select an article. How does this article fit in with the uses of epidemiology listed in Table 1.2 of the text?
1.6 Fact versus inference. William Farr said "rates express facts, while all else is mere inference." However, scientific facts require explanation, and fact can often be explained in many ways. This phenomenon is demonstrated in PCA Louis's studies of early- vs. late-treatment of pneumonia with bloodletting (p. 16). Louis's studies shows that 44% of aggressively-treated patients died. In contrast, 25% of non-aggressively treated patients died. Therefore, the aggressive treatment seemed to be harmful. Come up with an alternative explanations for the observed difference.
1.7 Lessons Learned from John Graunt. The text on p. 14 introduces the work of John Graunt. Read the insightful on Graunt by Rothman by clicking here. Then, discuss one or two lessons you learned by reading this article.
1.8 Framingham and British Doctors. The book briefly mentions two landmark epidemiologic studies completed in the post-World War II era. One is The Framingham Heart Study. The other is The British Doctors Study. "Google" these studies, and summarize their design and major findings.
1.9. Uses of Epidemiology. Read the article The uses of 'Uses of Epidemiology' by George Davey Smith. Here's the link to the full text: link. Your instructor will determine how you are to discuss this article.
Key to Odd Problems Key to Even Problems (may not be posted)