NR 503 final exams 2024 questions and answers with explanation[A graded]
Epidemiology Questions
1. Question: Define epidemiology and explain its importance in public health.
Answer: Epidemiology is the study of how diseases affect the health and illness of
populations. It is a key discipline in public health, helping to identify risk factors for
disease and targets for preventive healthcare. By understanding the distribution and
determinants of health-related states, epidemiologists can guide public health policies and
interventions to improve health outcomes.
2. Question: What is the difference between incidence and prevalence?
Answer: Incidence refers to the number of new cases of a disease that occur in a
specified population during a defined time period. It provides information about the risk
of contracting the disease. Prevalence, on the other hand, refers to the total number of
cases (both new and existing) of a disease in a population at a given time. It provides
information about how widespread the disease is.
3. Question: Describe the concept of "population at risk."
Answer: The "population at risk" includes all individuals who are susceptible to the
disease or health condition being studied. This group excludes those who are immune or
otherwise not susceptible. For example, if studying the incidence of cervical cancer, the
population at risk would be women who have not had a hysterectomy.
Biostatistics Questions
4. Question: Explain the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Answer: Descriptive statistics summarize and describe the main features of a dataset,
providing simple summaries about the sample and the measures. This includes measures
such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation. Inferential statistics, on the other
hand, use a random sample of data taken from a population to describe and make
inferences about the population. This includes hypothesis testing, confidence intervals,
and regression analysis.
5. Question: What is a p-value and what does it indicate about a study's results?
Answer: A p-value is a measure of the probability that an observed difference could have
occurred just by random chance. It is used in hypothesis testing to help determine the
significance of results. A p-value less than 0.05 is commonly considered statistically
significant, indicating that there is less than a 5% probability that the observed difference
is due to chance.
Epidemiology Questions
1. Question: Define epidemiology and explain its importance in public health.
Answer: Epidemiology is the study of how diseases affect the health and illness of
populations. It is a key discipline in public health, helping to identify risk factors for
disease and targets for preventive healthcare. By understanding the distribution and
determinants of health-related states, epidemiologists can guide public health policies and
interventions to improve health outcomes.
2. Question: What is the difference between incidence and prevalence?
Answer: Incidence refers to the number of new cases of a disease that occur in a
specified population during a defined time period. It provides information about the risk
of contracting the disease. Prevalence, on the other hand, refers to the total number of
cases (both new and existing) of a disease in a population at a given time. It provides
information about how widespread the disease is.
3. Question: Describe the concept of "population at risk."
Answer: The "population at risk" includes all individuals who are susceptible to the
disease or health condition being studied. This group excludes those who are immune or
otherwise not susceptible. For example, if studying the incidence of cervical cancer, the
population at risk would be women who have not had a hysterectomy.
Biostatistics Questions
4. Question: Explain the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Answer: Descriptive statistics summarize and describe the main features of a dataset,
providing simple summaries about the sample and the measures. This includes measures
such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation. Inferential statistics, on the other
hand, use a random sample of data taken from a population to describe and make
inferences about the population. This includes hypothesis testing, confidence intervals,
and regression analysis.
5. Question: What is a p-value and what does it indicate about a study's results?
Answer: A p-value is a measure of the probability that an observed difference could have
occurred just by random chance. It is used in hypothesis testing to help determine the
significance of results. A p-value less than 0.05 is commonly considered statistically
significant, indicating that there is less than a 5% probability that the observed difference
is due to chance.
