Introduction Section
While there are some very specific types of measures and analyses that are appropriate for certain epidemiologic study designs, there are also plenty of situations where standard statistical methods are appropriate for analyzing data from epidemiologic studies. The specific measures we have already covered include prevalence and incidence (including cumulative incidence as well as incidence rates), and specific analysis methods include using odds ratios for case-control studies.
Standard statistical methods can be used across many types of applied research, and an overview is provided here in Unit 3. Methods are broken down by the type of outcome being measured (continuous, categorical, time-to-event), and within each outcome type by techniques for descriptive, bivariable associations, and modeling. Depending on the outcome, and planned primary comparison, it is important to also know how to estimate the necessary sample size. Thus, Unit 3 also covers power/sample size and outlines scenarios where closed-form formulas exist.