Being a naturally analytical person I find statistical analysis to be captivating. Looking back through my career and educational experiences, the one constant has been data. I have utilized statistical analysis working in a behavioral research lab, coordinating a community-based family support program and developing programs to diversify the scientific workforce. The synthesis of data can be very powerful, and is essential for the progression of research, health programming, strategic plans and educational endeavors. My passion for data and analytics and the receipt of an advanced graduate certificate in applied statistical analysis will provide me with the skills necessary to achieve my ultimate career goal of developing and implementing …show more content…
My training in Public Health emphasized evidence-based programming and outcomes as being highly regarded and the best practices for developing public health initiatives. During my MPH training, program statistics classes provided me with a better understanding of the underlying assumptions associated with statistical testing, and helped me to adapt this knowledge to simulated problem sets. Moreover, I experienced the utility of data analysis to address community health problems while assisting with the Delavan-Grider project. The Delavan-Grider project was designed to improve the health of the community adjacent to the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC). I participated in community meetings and disseminated brochures detailing the outcome of a community health assessment. Through this project, community members were given a powerful tool which enabled them to make healthier choices. Understanding the influence of statistical analysis beyond the scope of a research project was unique and instrumental in my decision to apply for the advanced certificate program in applied statistical
The two logic models utilized were Precede-Proceed model and MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships). The qualitative data methods used for the data collection were- researching the national, state, and local databases; reviewing the previously conducted county health assessments and reports; interviewing key stakeholders in the
The final chapter of this book encourages people to be critical when taking in statistics. Someone taking a critical approach to statistics tries assessing statistics by asking questions and researching the origins of a statistic when that information is not provided. The book ends by encouraging readers to know the limitations of statistics and understand how statistics are
Diagnosing and investigating health problems and health hazards in the community. Informing, educating and empowering the people about health issues. Mobilizing community partnerships to identify and solve health problems. Health assessments also develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts. They also enforce laws and regulations that help protect health and ensure safety (Thivierge, 2016). Assessments link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable. Public health assessments can help to assure the public of the competency of the public health and personal health care workforce. These assessments evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services (Thivierge,
West, S. L., & O'Neal, K. K. (2004). Project D.A.R.E. outcome effectiveness revisited. American Journal of Public Health. doi:10.2105/AJPH.94.6.1027
DiClemente (2013) stated, “Although no evaluation is perfect, evaluation research can have a high degree of rigor” (DiClemente, Salazar, & Crosby, 2013, pp. 298). The result of a high degree of rigor can lead to the utilization by program planners and policy experts which would in turn could impact public health policy and promotion practice (DiClemente et al., 2013). This is obtained by a step by step, all equally important, process in what is known as the “Nine Step Stairway to Effective Evaluation”.
I am always a little nervous and hesitant when I begin writing an essay. Ever since I was little I was an honor roll student, passed all my tests, was placed in honors and AP classes, and eventually graduated a year early from high school. I used to be so confident when I would begin writing a paper, I could finish it within a couple minutes. During junior year of high school, I began taking duel credit classes. I was passing all the classes so far until I reached English 111. It was an 8-week course and I started to get overwhelmed. All throughout the course I was having a little bit of trouble on the essays. I would still receive a passing grade, but it wasn’t an A. I began becoming a little discouraged and didn’t understand what was going
The father of quantitative analysis, Rene Descartes, thought that in order to know and understand something, you have to measure it (Kover, 2008). Quantitative research has two main types of sampling used, probabilistic and purposive. Probabilistic sampling is when there is equal chance of anyone within the studied population to be included. Purposive sampling is used when some benchmarks are used to replace the discrepancy among errors. The primary collection of data is from tests or standardized questionnaires, structured interviews, and closed-ended observational protocols. The secondary means for data collection includes official documents. In this study, the data is analyzed to test one or more expressed hypotheses. Descriptive and inferential analyses are the two types of data analysis used and advance from descriptive to inferential. The next step in the process is data interpretation, and the goal is to give meaning to the results in regards to the hypothesis the theory was derived from. Data interpretation techniques used are generalization, theory-driven, and interpretation of theory (Gelo, Braakmann, Benetka, 2008). The discussion should bring together findings and put them into context of the framework, guiding the study (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). The discussion should include an interpretation of the results; descriptions of themes, trends, and relationships; meanings of the results, and the limitations of the study. In the conclusion, one wants to end the study by providing a synopsis and final comments. It should include a summary of findings, recommendations, and future research (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). Deductive reasoning is used in studies...
Compassion, respect, empathy, and treating people with dignity are values I hold dear and have been brought up with and follow. When I was younger I thought as children do, that all children must be happy and have a safe place to live and a family who love them, however, as I got older I realised that this was not the case for many children. I felt a sense of injustice and realised then that I wanted to work in a job that helps care for children/young people and families, making sure their basic rights are met and they are safe. I feel that it has always been part of my personality to be a supportive, nurturing, caring and a community focused individual. Therefore it only seems natural for me to follow this instinctive sense of caring and
Edwards, N. C., Etowa, J., Peterson, W. E., & Kennedy, M. A. (2012). Community health
This chapter taught me the importance of understanding statistical data and how to evaluate it with common sense. Almost everyday we are subjected to statistical data in newspapers and on TV. My usual reaction was to accept those statistics as being valid. Which I think is a fair assessment for most people. However, reading this chapter opens my eyes to the fact that statistical data can be very misleading. It shows how data can be skewed to support a certain group’s agenda. Although most statistical data presented may not seem to affect us personally in our daily lives, it can however have an impact. For example, statistics can influence the way people vote on certain issues.
Because state and local public health programs are often funded at least in part with Federal dollars, accountability is often a key issue (“Ten Essential Public Health Services.” 2015). Public health programs therefore document progress towards positive change in health behavior or health status indicators (“Ten Essential Public Health Services.” 2015). Data such as these can be presented to policymakers to document the value or effectiveness of a program (“Ten Essential Public Health Services.” 2015). Those data can also be used for continued program planning and modification (“Ten Essential Public Health Services.” 2015). Policies have positive or negative influences on health. Examples of health policies include safety standards, which influence the incidence of injuries; tobacco regulations affect personal health; and safe city parks can affect the ability for people are active (California Department of Public Health “Strategic Plan”, 2013). It is a systematic process to utilize appropriate data, develop and track measurable health objectives, establish strategies and actions to guide the targeted improvements (California Department of Public Health “Strategic Plan”, 2013). The targeted strategies may be laws, codes, regulations and/or
Bernard Choi, et al. “EVIDENCE BASED PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AND PRACTICE: Can scientists and policy makers work together?” Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Vol. 59 Issue 8 (2005). 632.
Epidemiology research, understanding of study design and methods, hypothesis formation, and writing a scientific poster help me develop pertinent research skills to success in a future in biomedical science. I aim to earn a Ph.D. in biomedical science and continue in health science that will positively impact the population. I believe that public health can fit together with biomedical science to find insight to molecular mechanisms and complex understanding of what diseases are seen in research fields like epidemiology. I am passionate about public health and epidemiology foci of nutrition so working on a project to prevent and dec...
Researchers, professionals and others use statistics to prove their claims or findings. Even though statistics are not an absolute fact because the conclusion is mostly drawn from a sample group – representative of a specific population subjected to the research, it is commonly used as the basis of decision making or alternating choices in daily living, studies, works, scientific research, politics and other planning. The inventor of a documentary film called “An inconvenient truth”, Mr. Al Gore, for instance, in his campaign to educate people about the climate change, used statistics to alert people that everyone on earth is polluting the environment and should participate in solving the problem. He collected data from many different countries with an in...
While I expect self-growth from participating in this course, I believe that my experiences will assist in other course participants as well. I believe I will be able to gain insight on the importance of providing valid and reliable means of measuring health indicators and outcomes towards the goal of improving health care for all through comprehensive yet efficient prevention and education programs targeting at risk communities.