Test Bank –
Friis & Seller’s
Epidemiology for Public Health Practice
By Robert H. Friis
7th edition
,Table of contents
Chapter 1 History and Scope of Epidemiology
Chapter 2 Practical Applications of Epidemiology
Chapter 3 Measures of Morbidity and Mortality Used in Epidemiology
and Exercises
Chapter 4 Descriptive Epidemiology: Person, Place, Time
Chapter 5 Sources of Data for Use in Epidemiology
Chapter 6 Study Designs: Ecologic, Cross-Sectional, Case-Control
Chapter 7 Study Designs: Cohort Studies
Chapter 8 Experimental Study Designs
Chapter 9 Measures of Effect
Chapter 10 Data Interpretation Issues
Chapter 11 Screening for Disease in the Community
Chapter 12 Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
Chapter 13 Epidemiologic Aspects of Work and the Environment
Chapter 14 Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology
Chapter 15 Social, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Epidemiology
Chapter 16 Epidemiology as a Profession
Chapter 17 Epidemiology and Health Policy
,CHAPTER 1
History and Scope of Epidemiology
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The word "epidemiology" is derived from Greek and literally means:
a) The study of disease transmission
b) The study of what is upon the people
c) The science of population genetics
d) The study of epidemic outbreaks only
Answer: B
Rationale: "Epidemiology" derives from the Greek words "epi" (upon), "demos" (people), and "logos"
(study), literally meaning "the study of what is upon the people."
2. Which of the following best defines epidemiology as used in modern public health practice?
a) The clinical study of individual patient diseases
b) The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified
populations and the application of this study to the control of health problems
c) The microbiological study of disease-causing agents
d) The sociological study of community health behaviors
Answer: B
Rationale: This is the classic definition of epidemiology as defined by Last (2001) and widely adopted in
public health practice, emphasizing distribution, determinants, populations, and application.
3. John Snow is widely regarded as the "father of epidemiology" primarily because of his work on:
a) The germ theory of disease
b) The development of vaccines
, c) Cholera outbreaks in London during the 1850s
d) The discovery of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae
Answer: C
Rationale: John Snow's investigation of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in London, where he
mapped cases and identified a contaminated water pump as the source, is considered a landmark in
epidemiological investigation.
4. Which of the following epidemiologists demonstrated that handwashing by physicians could
dramatically reduce childbed (puerperal) fever mortality?
a) Louis Pasteur
b) Robert Koch
c) Ignaz Semmelweis
d) Edward Jenner
Answer: C
Rationale: Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician working in Vienna during the 1840s, demonstrated
that handwashing with chlorinated lime solution dramatically reduced puerperal fever mortality among
new mothers.
5. The era of epidemiology that focused primarily on infectious disease control and sanitary reform is
best described as:
a) The era of chronic disease epidemiology
b) The era of miasma theory
c) The sanitary statistics era
d) The era of molecular epidemiology
Answer: C
Friis & Seller’s
Epidemiology for Public Health Practice
By Robert H. Friis
7th edition
,Table of contents
Chapter 1 History and Scope of Epidemiology
Chapter 2 Practical Applications of Epidemiology
Chapter 3 Measures of Morbidity and Mortality Used in Epidemiology
and Exercises
Chapter 4 Descriptive Epidemiology: Person, Place, Time
Chapter 5 Sources of Data for Use in Epidemiology
Chapter 6 Study Designs: Ecologic, Cross-Sectional, Case-Control
Chapter 7 Study Designs: Cohort Studies
Chapter 8 Experimental Study Designs
Chapter 9 Measures of Effect
Chapter 10 Data Interpretation Issues
Chapter 11 Screening for Disease in the Community
Chapter 12 Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
Chapter 13 Epidemiologic Aspects of Work and the Environment
Chapter 14 Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology
Chapter 15 Social, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Epidemiology
Chapter 16 Epidemiology as a Profession
Chapter 17 Epidemiology and Health Policy
,CHAPTER 1
History and Scope of Epidemiology
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The word "epidemiology" is derived from Greek and literally means:
a) The study of disease transmission
b) The study of what is upon the people
c) The science of population genetics
d) The study of epidemic outbreaks only
Answer: B
Rationale: "Epidemiology" derives from the Greek words "epi" (upon), "demos" (people), and "logos"
(study), literally meaning "the study of what is upon the people."
2. Which of the following best defines epidemiology as used in modern public health practice?
a) The clinical study of individual patient diseases
b) The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified
populations and the application of this study to the control of health problems
c) The microbiological study of disease-causing agents
d) The sociological study of community health behaviors
Answer: B
Rationale: This is the classic definition of epidemiology as defined by Last (2001) and widely adopted in
public health practice, emphasizing distribution, determinants, populations, and application.
3. John Snow is widely regarded as the "father of epidemiology" primarily because of his work on:
a) The germ theory of disease
b) The development of vaccines
, c) Cholera outbreaks in London during the 1850s
d) The discovery of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae
Answer: C
Rationale: John Snow's investigation of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in London, where he
mapped cases and identified a contaminated water pump as the source, is considered a landmark in
epidemiological investigation.
4. Which of the following epidemiologists demonstrated that handwashing by physicians could
dramatically reduce childbed (puerperal) fever mortality?
a) Louis Pasteur
b) Robert Koch
c) Ignaz Semmelweis
d) Edward Jenner
Answer: C
Rationale: Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician working in Vienna during the 1840s, demonstrated
that handwashing with chlorinated lime solution dramatically reduced puerperal fever mortality among
new mothers.
5. The era of epidemiology that focused primarily on infectious disease control and sanitary reform is
best described as:
a) The era of chronic disease epidemiology
b) The era of miasma theory
c) The sanitary statistics era
d) The era of molecular epidemiology
Answer: C
