How to apply statistical methods to survey data--a guide toeffective analysis of health surveys. With large health surveys becoming increasingly available forpublic use, researchers with little experience in survey methodsare often faced with analyzing data from surveys to addressscientific and programmatic questions. This practical book providesstatistical techniques for use in survey analysis, making healthsurveys accessible to statisticians, biostatisticians,epidemiologists, and health researchers. The authors clearlyexplain the theory and methods of survey analysis along withreal-world applications. They draw on their work at the NationalInstitutes of Health as well as up-to-date information from acrossthe literature to present: * The sampling background necessary to understand health surveys. * The application of such techniques as t-tests, linear regression,logistic regression, and survival analysis to survey data. * The use of sample weights in survey data analysis. * Dealing with complications in variance estimation in large healthsurveys. * Applications involving cross-sectional, longitudinal, andmultiple cross-sectional surveys, and the use of surveys to performpopulation- based case-control analyses. * Guidance on the correct use of statistical methods found insoftware packages. * Extensive bibliography.

Designing and Conducting Health Surveys is written for students, teachers, researchers, and anyone who conducts health surveys. This third edition of the standard reference in the field draws heavily on the most recent methodological research on survey design and the rich storehouse of insights and implications provided by cognitive research on question and questionnaire design in particular. This important resource presents a total survey error framework that is a useful compass for charting the dangerous waters between systematic and random errors that inevitably accompany the survey design enterprise. In addition, three new studies based on national, international, and state and local surveys—the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, California Health Interview Survey, and National Dental Malpractice Survey—are detailed that illustrate the range of design alternatives available at each stage of developing a survey and provide a sound basis for choosing among them.

A comprehensive guidebook to the current methodologies and practices used in health surveys A unique and self-contained resource, Handbook of Health Survey Methods presents techniques necessary for confronting challenges that are specific to health survey research. The handbook guides readers through the development of sample designs, data collection procedures, and analytic methods for studies aimed at gathering health information on general and targeted populations. The book is organized into five well-defined sections: Design and Sampling Issues, Measurement Issues, Field Issues, Health Surveys of Special Populations, and Data Management and Analysis. Maintaining an easy-to-follow format, each chapter begins with an introduction, followed by an overview of the main concepts, theories, and applications associated with each topic. Finally, each chapter provides connections to relevant online resources for additional study and reference. The Handbook of Health Survey Methods features: 29 methodological chapters written by highly qualified experts in academia, research, and industry A treatment of the best statistical practices and specific methodologies for collecting data from special populations such as sexual minorities, persons with disabilities, patients, and practitioners Discussions on issues specific to health research including developing physical health and mental health measures, collecting information on sensitive topics, sampling for clinical trials, collecting biospecimens, working with proxy respondents, and linking health data to administrative and other external data sources Numerous real-world examples from the latest research in the fields of public health, biomedicine, and health psychology Handbook of Health Survey Methods is an ideal reference for academics, researchers, and practitioners who apply survey methods and analyze data in the fields of biomedicine, public health, epidemiology, and biostatistics. The handbook is also a useful supplement for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level courses on survey methodology.

A complete guide to carrying out complex survey analysis using R As survey analysis continues to serve as a core component of sociological research, researchers are increasingly relying upon data gathered from complex surveys to carry out traditional analyses. Complex Surveys is a practical guide to the analysis of this kind of data using R, the freely available and downloadable statistical programming language. As creator of the specific survey package for R, the author provides the ultimate presentation of how to successfully use the software for analyzing data from complex surveys while also utilizing the most current data from health and social sciences studies to demonstrate the application of survey research methods in these fields. The book begins with coverage of basic tools and topics within survey analysis such as simple and stratified sampling, cluster sampling, linear regression, and categorical data regression. Subsequent chapters delve into more technical aspects of complex survey analysis, including post-stratification, two-phase sampling, missing data, and causal inference. Throughout the book, an emphasis is placed on graphics, regression modeling, and two-phase designs. In addition, the author supplies a unique discussion of epidemiological two-phase designs as well as probability-weighting for causal inference. All of the book's examples and figures are generated using R, and a related Web site provides the R code that allows readers to reproduce the presented content. Each chapter concludes with exercises that vary in level of complexity, and detailed appendices outline additional mathematical and computational descriptions to assist readers with comparing results from various software systems. Complex Surveys is an excellent book for courses on sampling and complex surveys at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a practical reference guide for applied statisticians and practitioners in the social and health sciences who use statistics in their everyday work.

Offering a practical, six-step approach to effective survey design, delivery, and analysis, Survey Methods for Medical and Health Professions Education provides a real-world framework for successful research and evaluation using surveys. Focused on medical and other health professional education research, this unique text features quick-reference checklists, high-yield explanations, and case examples throughout, making it both a foundational reference and a go-to resource for all health professions educators and researchers who use surveys. - Provides a detailed and practical discussion of the steps in survey methodology, along with just enough theory to inform common decisions. - Includes numerous real-world examples, both simple and complex, covering the wide range of problems researchers are likely to face. - Addresses issues of survey fatigue and addresses the challenge of how to get "good data." - Features "Voice of Experience" boxes—pearls based on authors' actual experiences. - Concludes each chapter with a checklist so readers can quickly ensure they have covered every necessary step of survey design and implementation. - Contains a convenient glossary of terms. - Offers guidance from expert international contributors in medical and health professions research. - Summarizes the most current standards and understanding of survey research so that experienced and novice researchers alike can directly apply content to improve research rigor.

Have gaps in health outcomes between the poor and better off grown? Are they larger in one country than another? Are health sector subsidies more equally distributed in some countries than others? Are health care payments more progressive in one health care financing system than another? What are catastrophic payments and how can they be measured? How far do health care payments impoverish households? Answering questions such as these requires quantitative analysis. This in turn depends on a clear understanding of how to measure key variables in the analysis, such as health outcomes, health expenditures, need, and living standards. It also requires set quantitative methods for measuring inequality and inequity, progressivity, catastrophic expenditures, poverty impact, and so on. This book provides an overview of the key issues that arise in the measurement of health variables and living standards, outlines and explains essential tools and methods for distributional analysis, and, using worked examples, shows how these tools and methods can be applied in the health sector. The book seeks to provide the reader with both a solid grasp of the principles underpinning distributional analysis, while at the same time offering hands-on guidance on how to move from principles to practice.