Last modified: 30 Sep 2025 12:16
This course in applied epidemiology gives an introduction to disease measurement at a population level, basic epidemiological study design and analysis, and provides an understanding of key methodological issues needed to apply when designing – or critically appraising – an epidemiological study.
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
|
||
Teaching and learning for this course will involve a combination of preparatory work for class, podcast lectures, in-class workshops, self-study and revision, a group assignment, and tutorials (self-directed). You will receive approximately 20 hours of pre-work activities and 20 hours of face-to-face synchronous sessions which will provide you with the theoretical background for each topic and opportunity to engage with and apply epidemiological concepts. Typically, you are expected to spend around a further 60 hours in private study and 50 hours preparing for assessments.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Critical Appraisal worth 40% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Class Test 1 worth 20% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Class Test 2 worth 40% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Formative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Online Quizzes, formatively assessed. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Resit Exam worth 100% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Evaluate | Apply the learning above, to critically appraise observational epidemiological studies in terms of context, study design, methods, analysis, conclusions and causal inference. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Identify and select appropriate sources of data to address epidemiological questions. |
| Factual | Analyse | Calculate and interpret basic epidemiological measures (e.g., incidence/prevalence) and measures of association (e.g., odds ratio, risk ratio). |
| Conceptual | Apply | Identify, define, and contextualise basic epidemiological terminology. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Recognise the potential threats to correctly interpreting results and identify those most relevant to each observational study design. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Distinguish between observational study designs and communicate the appropriate circumstances in which to use each design. |
We have detected that you are have compatibility mode enabled or are using an old version of Internet Explorer. You either need to switch off compatibility mode for this site or upgrade your browser.
