Assignment: Distinguishing Study Designs
In this assignment you will analyze a classic paper in epidemiology (see below).
Manson, J.E., Willett, W.C., & Stampfer, M.J. (1995). Body weight and mortality among womenNew England Journal of Medicine 333, 677-85. (This paper is a classic epidemiologic study and will be analyzed in depth for your case assignment.)
The intent of this assignment is for you to be able to "see through" the study article and glean the relevant issues and points from the research study, with emphasis upon study design.
Please read the article, and answer the following seven questions (use these subheadings) in about 4 pages:
1. RQ - What was the research question?
2. Design - What type of research design was employed in this study? Was it an appropriate design for the research question?
3. Body mass index and mortality - What was the shape of the relationship between body mass index and mortality among all women, former smokers, current smokers, and never smokers? Why were these differences observed? What type of bias is addressed by performing analyses separately in these subgroups? How else could have the researchers taken care of this type of bias? (Here you should refer to the Cooper and Durazo-Arvizu & Cooper papers from your background reading page.)
4. Restrictions -What was the effect of restricting the analyses further to women with stable weight? Why were the analyses restricted to this group?
5. Body mass index and disease - What was the relationship between body mass index and cardiovascular disease? How about the relationship between body mass index and cancer? If you were to reduce obesity at the population level, which of these diseases would be affected more?
6. Weight - What were the results concerning weight change and weight at age 18?
7. Conclusions and implications - What were the conclusions? What are the implications for disease prevention?
Case Assignment Expectations:
Use information from the assigned journal article to provide your responses to the specific questions that I have posed above.
LENGTH: Approximately 4 pages typed and double-spaced
The following items will be assessed in particular:
1. PRECISION: Each of the questions of the assignment is specifically addressed in the paper.
2. CLARITY: The paper reads clearly (i.e., it is not confusing) and is well-structured.
3. BREADTH: The paper presents appropriate breadth covering the questions of the assignment.
4. DEPTH: The paper presents points that lead to a deeper understanding of the matters and/or issues being discussed and integrates several points into coherent conclusions.
5. CRITICAL THINKING: You set aside your own personal biases and instead approach the subject matter using available scholarly evidence. You consider the strengths and weaknesses of competing arguments/perspectives on this topic. Having read these scholarly sources, you make a judgement as to the merit of the arguments presented therein.
Keep in mind that "A" papers are truly exceptional works that go beyond simply answering the questions.