Types of Epidemilogy Studies
•Descriptive studies are simply those that describe the
events and rates of disease. They tend to be the first
sets of studies done. Observational studies then look
towards finding out the causes of the observed rates.
They are called "observational" since the epidemiologist
does not intervene in the assignment of exposure.
•Experimental studies are formal research experiments.
The classic example is the randomized control trial
where one group is randomly assigned a treatment and
a control group gets the placebo or "usual" treatment.
•Experimental studies are expensive and test a very
specific question. Usually a great deal of descriptive and
observational studies are done first.
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