Module 1

Question 1

What is research?

Answer 1

systematic investigation to discover/explain new knowledge

Question 2

Definition of epistemology:

Answer 2

branch of philosophy focusing on defining what knowledge is, what can be known, and if it is possible to know anything with certainty

Question 3

What is empiricism?

Answer 3

observation by senses

Question 4

What is idealism?

Answer 4

intuition

Question 5

What is rationalism?

Answer 5

a “system of thinking”

Question 6

Define constructivism.

Answer 6

belief that knowledge is generated from subjective representations of objective realities

Question 7

Explain the cycle of inquiry or the research process.

Answer 7

1. Make an observation
2. Ask a broad question about the observation
3. Review previous research
4. Refine/ask a question
5. Formulate objectives
6. Design the best way to meet objectives
7. Make an observation
8. Analyze data and report results

Question 8

Who was King Nebuchadnezzar and what role did he play in health research?

Answer 8

• Babylonian from 605 BCE
• first known medical trial, in which one group of boys ate red meat and wine and the other group had beans and water
• the health of each group was compared

Question 9

Who was Hippocrates?

Answer 9

• 460 to 377 BCE
• first recorded rational explanation of disease
• observed disease occurs at population and individual levels, concluding there must be something contributing to illness that was in “air, water, places” to which populations were exposed

Question 10

John Grant was…

Answer 10

• a non-clinician/tradesman who lived from 1620-1674 and routinely collected data on births and deaths to quantify patterns of disease in the population
• one of first epidemiology experts, generated many stat. methods still used
• mortality during bubonic plague times

Question 11

Who was John Snow?

Answer 11

• 1813-1858
• obstetrician/anesthesiologist
• investigated cholera outbreak in London, 1854 which was critical to public health

Question 12

Rudolf Virchow was…

Answer 12

• 1821-1902
• physician who did pathological anatomy work showing that disease manifests at cellular level, not organ level
• launched cellular pathology field, led us to modern understanding of biology
• advocated medical practice should move from theoretical to systematic clinical observations

Question 13

Who was Emile Durkhem?

Answer 13

• 1858-1917
• sociologist/social psychologist known for suicide observations
• documented disease outcomes (suicide, in his case) from observations of a large case series from his practice
• disease classification and observations that informed treatment approaches

Question 14

Sir Bradford Hill was…

Answer 14

• 1897-1991
• developed: Hill’s criteria for determining causal association
• published preliminary report on cigarette smoke and lung cancer in the 1950s (“Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung”

Question 15

What are the qualities of good study objectives?

Answer 15

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound