The use of epidemiological tools in conflict-affected populations: open-access educational resources for policy-makers

Table of Contents

1. Welcome
2. Introduction: Epidemiology in crises
3. Ethical issues in data collection
4. Need for epidemiologic competence
   1. Qualifications of an epidemiologist
   2. Where to find epidemiologists
5. Surveys - Introduction
6. Surveys - Description of sampling methods
7. Surveys - Sampling error, bias, accuracy, precision, & sample size
8. Surveys - Resources required for surveys
9. Surveys - Critiquing survey reports
10. Surveillance - When to do surveillance
11. Surveillance - Methods
12. Surveillance - Common problems
13. Programme data
14. Rapid assessment
15. Mortality - Indicators and their measurement
16. Mortality - Data sources
17. Mortality - Interpretation and action
18. Nutrition - Introduction and background
19. Nutrition - Indicators and their measurement
20. Nutrition - Data sources
21. Nutrition - Interpretation and action
22. Health services
23. Vaccination programmes
24. Water supply, sanitation, and shelter
25. Violence
26. Presentation of results
27. Formulating conclusions and recommendations
28. Dissemination and action

Qualifications of an epidemiologist

(go to Outline)

Epidemiology, although a valuable scientific discipline, is largely common sense. A little reflection combined with clear thinking can make epidemiologic principles relatively clear. Nonetheless, an epidemiologist charged with organizing and supervising the implementation of a surveillance system, survey, or other data collection and analysis should have had experience in such activities before taking on such a task. Moreover, because data collection almost always involves many different stakeholders, epidemiologists need to have some measure of diplomatic negotiating skills to design and implement data collection which meets the needs of many organizations.

Surveys may be more complicated and require more specialized knowledge and experience than other types of data collection. Ideally, persons responsible for carrying out a survey should be familiar with:

• The logistical requirements of a survey
• Selecting and training survey workers
• Proper techniques for interviewing respondents and collecting biologic specimens
• Data entry and data cleaning, including setting up the data entry program
• Data analysis, including techniques necessary for data derived from surveys using complex sampling
• Presentation of results in a standard fashion
• Formulation of appropriate conclusions and recommendations
• Report writing and verbal presentation

It may be difficult to find a person with such broad experience who can stay in the field for the entire duration of the survey, from planning through dissemination of the results. However, visits at strategic points in the process or long-distance technical advice may suffice.