Study Design in Etiologic Research

FaculteitFaculty of Medical Sciences

NiveauMaster

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL BE PLACED ON THE WAITING LIST UNTIL TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE START OF THE COURSE

GRADUATE STUDENTS:
Please be aware that you can only select a course option that shows the academic year and is offered Face-to-Face (F2F)

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS:
Please be aware that you can only select a course option that shows the academic year and is offered Face-to-Face (F2F) or online (depending on your registration)

(FYI: the other options are options for Continuing Education (onderwijs voor professionals))

At the end of this course, the student:

Formulate scientific questions and corresponding Theoretical Design suited for etiologic causal studies;
Explain when and under which assumptions a measure of association can be interpreted causally, given a particular study design and data-generating process;
Distinguish between a cohort study, a case-control study and a cross-sectional study design and describe their defining features;
Explain how sampling strategies define cohort, case–control, and cross-sectional studies and assess whether these strategies and the source population are appropriate for a specified research question, including designs that make use of health data sources not specifically set-up for scientific research;
Critically assess the risk of confounding bias and define refinements in study design or sampling to prevent or mitigate confounding bias;
Critically assess the risk of selection bias and distinguish it from the necessary selection process and define refinements in study design or sampling to prevent or mitigate selection bias;
Critically assess the risk of information bias arising from measurement and data collection, distinguish between differential and non-differential information bias, and recommend refinements in measurement or study design to prevent or mitigate information bias;
Calculate common estimators of measures of frequency and association and justify the choice of estimator for a given research question;
Appraise scientific abstracts and papers of etiologic research on the choice of study design, specify the likelihood, direction, and magnitude of potential biases and clearly relate these to the study findings;
Explain the specific aspects of study design in veterinary epidemiology as compared to ‘human’ epidemiology.

Content

Contact details: Educational Office Epidemiology
E-mail: msc-epidemiology@umcutrecht.nl

Registration:
Face-to-Face: Students can register for this course via Osiris Student. More information about the registration procedure can be found here on the Students' site. NOTE Students of the MSc Epidemiology (Post Graduate) that register in time (i.e. at least two weeks before the start of a course) will always be admitted to the course unless it is completely full. Other students will receive information about their application two weeks before the start of the course.
Online: Online courses are only available for Epidemiology Postgraduate students and can register via Osiris Student. More information about the registration procedure can be found here on the Students' site.

Course coordinators:
F2F: Dr. N.C. (Charlotte) Onland-Moret, UMC Utrecht, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Online: Prof. dr. Y.T. (Yvonne) van der Schouw, UMC Utrecht, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Course description:
In this course the principles and practice of cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies are taught. Design, data collection and outcome measures are discussed, as well as the major advantages and disadvantages of the different study designs. Emphasis is on the application of study design in etiologic research. The course focuses on the more classical approach but also addresses modern concepts and design options, such as case-cohort designs. Various study designs are discussed, with emphasis on issues of validity.

Literature/study material used:
Recommended books:
Clinical Epidemiology – Principles, Methods and Applications for Clinical Research’ by D.E. Grobbee & A.W. Hoes, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2014, ISBN-13: 978-1449674328
NOTE PhD students working at the Julius Center can get this book for free if they have completed their people page on the Julius Center website!! More information: M.A.denHartog@umcutrecht.nl
In the course we focus on Chapters 1, 3 (Etiologic research), 7,8,9 and 12 (until 'regression analysis')

'Epidemiology – An introduction (Second edition)' by K.J. Rothman, Oxford University Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-975455-7

Mandatory for students in own Master’s programme:
Epidemiology & Epidemiology Postgraduate

Optional for students in other GSLS Master’s programme: Yes

Prerequisite knowledge:
Introduction to Epidemiology

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