Epidemiological Research Ch.6 Exam Questions Baumgartner

Chapter 6

Epidemiological Research

Multiple Choice

1. The focus of an epidemiological study is to:

A. compute the cost of treating a specific disease.
B. determine the ratio of birth rate and mortality rate.
C. use sample statistics to estimate the population parameters.
D. describe a special case in treating patients.
E. determine the cause that makes people sick or dead.

2. The Harvard Alumni Study is an example of a(n):

A. descriptive research study.
B. experimental research study.
C. case-control study.
D. randomized controlled trial.
E. cohort study.

3. Which of the following definitions of prevalent cases is correct? 

A. The number of persons in the population who had a particular disease last month
B. The number of persons in the population who had a particular disease last year
C. The number of persons in the population who have had a particular disease recently
D. The number of persons in the population who have a particular disease now
E. The number of persons in the population who have had a particular disease at some specific point in time

4. Which of the following definitions of incidence rates is correct? 

A. The rate at which people without diseases develop disease over a specific time interval
B. The rate of how many people now have a specific disease
C. The rate of how many people had a specific disease in the past
D. The rate of how many people are now free from a specific disease
E. The rate of how many people in a specific group (e.g., females) now have a specific disease

5. Which of the following is an advantage of a case-control study?

A. Provides an absolute measure of risk
B. Allows researchers to study multiple disease outcomes
C. Is the gold standard for evaluating interventions
D. Is appropriate for the study of rare events
E. is quick and easy to conduct

6. Which of the following is an advantage of a cohort study?

A. Hypothesis generation
B. Allows researchers to study multiple disease outcomes
C. Gold standard for evaluating interventions
D. Appropriate for the study of rare events
E. Quick and easy to conduct

7. If the risk for disease is the same in groups that are exposed and unexposed to the risk factor, the relative risk will be:

A. 0.0.
B. 0.5.
C. 1.0.
D. 1.5.
E. 2.0.

8. If the risk for disease is the same in groups that are exposed and unexposed to the risk factor, the odds ratio will be:

A. 0.0.
B. 0.5.
C. 1.0.
D. 1.5.
E. 2.0.

9. Two or more risk factors modifying the effect of each other with regard to the occurrence of an outcome is known as:

A. effect modification.
B. confounding.
C. randomization.
D. cause-effect.

10. Which of the following is not a case of confounding?

A. Randomization
B. Age
C. Sex
D. Training background

11. Which of the following is a disadvantage of a randomized controlled trial?

A. Not appropriate for hypothesis testing
B. Expensive and time-consuming to conduct
C. Subject to recall bias
D. Can study only one disease at a time