The second edition of this internationally acclaimed title is the ideal handbook for those involved in conducting epidemiological research. The objective of most epidemiological studies is to relate exposure to putative causal agents to the occurrence of a particular disease. The achievement of this objective depends critically on accurate measurement of exposure. This book reviews principles and techniques that can be applied to measuring a wide range of exposures, including demographic, ...

Teaching epidemiology requires skill and knowledge, combined with a clear teaching strategy and good pedagogic skills. The general advice is simple: if you are not an expert on a topic, try to enrich your background knowledge before you start teaching. The new edition of Teaching Epidemiology helps you to do this and, by providing world-expert teachers' advice on how best to structure teaching, providing a unique insight into what has worked in their hands. This book will help you...

What is epidemiology? What are the causes of a new disease? How can pandemics be prevented? Epidemiology is the study of the changing patterns of disease and its main aim is to improve the health of populations. It's a vital field, central to the health of society, to the identification of causes of disease, and to their management and prevention. Epidemiology has had an impact on many areas of medicine; from discovering the relationship between tobacco smoking and lung cancer, to the orig...

Epidemiology plays an all-important role in many areas of medicine, from discovering the relationship between tobacco smoking and lung cancer, to documenting the impact of diet, the environment, and exercise on general health, to tracking the origin and spread of new epidemics such as SwineFlu. It is truly a vital field, central to the health of society, but it is often poorly understood, largely due to misrepresentations in the media. In this Very Short Introduction, an in...

Scholars and governments recognize the importance of policy development and implementation for population health, but there is a lack of systematic theoretical and conceptual development in the health field to address the issue. Health Promotion and the Policy Process is the first book to take an in-depth look at the theoretical advances in the political sciences, including discussing the significance of political economy and sociology, which so far have made little progress in he...

This early work by Alfred Russel Wallace was originally published in 1904 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'A Summary of the Proofs that Vaccination Does Not Prevent Small-pox but Really Increases it' is an article on the suggested dangers of large scale vaccination programs against one of the world's most deadly diseases. Alfred Russel Wallace was born on 8th January 1823 in the village of Llanbadoc, in Monmouthshire, Wales. Wallace was inspired by t...

In the past thirty years epidemiology has matured from a fledgling scientific field into a vibrant discipline that brings together the biological and social sciences, and in doing so draws upon disciplines ranging from statistics and survey sampling to the philosophy of science. These areas of knowledge have converged into a modern theory of epidemiology that has been slow to penetrate into textbooks, particularly at the introductory level. Epidemiology: An Introduction closes the...

As users come to depend on MySQL, they find that they have to deal with issues of reliability, scalability, and performance--issues that are not well documented but are critical to a smoothly functioning site. This book is an insider's guide to these little understood topics.Author Jeremy Zawodny has managed large numbers of MySQL servers for mission-critical work at Yahoo!, maintained years of contacts with the MySQL AB team, and presents regularly at conferences. Jeremy and Derek have sp...

Recent decades have brought advances in statistical theory for missing data, which, combined with advances in computing ability, have allowed implementation of a wide array of analyses. In fact, so many methods are available that it can be difficult to ascertain when to use which method. This book focuses on the prevention and treatment of missing data in longitudinal clinical trials. Based on his extensive experience with missing data, the author offers advice on choosing analysis methods...

The haunting story of a virus that triggered the worst pandemic of modern times.**“Both a saga of tragedies and a detective story.” —**The GuardianThe flu pandemic of 1918–1920 was one of the greatest human disasters of all time. It infected a third of the people on Earth—from the poorest immigrants of New York City to the king of Spain, Franz Kafka, Mahatma Gandhi, and Woodrow Wilson. But despite a death toll far higher than that ...

This book discusses the most important techniques available for longitudinal data analysis, from simple techniques such as the paired t-test and summary statistics, to more sophisticated ones such as generalized estimating of equations and mixed model analysis. A distinction is made between longitudinal analysis with continuous, dichotomous and categorical outcome variables. The emphasis of the discussion lies in the interpretation and comparison of the results of the different techniques....

The success of the Apgar score demonstrates the astounding power of an appropriate clinical instrument. This down-to-earth book provides practical advice, underpinned by theoretical principles, on developing and evaluating measurement instruments in all fields of medicine. It equips you to choose the most appropriate instrument for specific purposes. The book covers measurement theories, methods and criteria for evaluating and selecting instruments. It provides methods to assess measuremen...