Research paperEpidemiology

Evaluation of Epidemiological Problem

Your own geographic area is the constraint, which means local surveillance data rather than national figures, and a study design you would actually be able to run there.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 22, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Your own area is the constraint, and it decides the data

The phrase that shapes the paper is your own geographic area, and it rules out the approach most students default to, which is a national literature review with a local sentence attached. Start by finding what data actually exist for your county or city, because that determines which problem you can write about. County health rankings, state behavioural risk factor survey tables, state cancer and vital statistics registries, local health department community health needs assessments and hospital community benefit reports are the usual sources, and hospital assessments are often the most useful because they are recent and locally specific. Choose the problem after seeing the data rather than before, because a problem you cannot quantify locally cannot support the measures and design sections that follow, however important the problem may be in itself. Start from the data, then choose, and the rest of the paper has something to stand on.

Then use the course vocabulary precisely, since the outcomes are the marking scheme. Define the terms rather than assuming them, and be careful with the pairs that get confused: incidence against prevalence, rate against proportion, and crude against age-adjusted rates, the last of which matters enormously for any local comparison because an area with an older population will look worse on almost everything until the rates are adjusted. For the design comparison, say what each approach can and cannot establish: surveillance detects change over time but cannot attribute cause, observational designs including cohort and case-control can identify association and are usually what is feasible locally, community trials can support causal claims but need scale and money, and randomised trials are rarely available for a population-level exposure. Then choose a design for your problem and defend it on feasibility as well as validity, because proposing a randomised trial for a county-level exposure has answered the validity question and ignored the second one.

Likely learning objectives

Select a problem from available local data rather than from the literature.
Define epidemiological terms precisely, including the commonly confused pairs.
Compare study designs by what each can establish.
Choose a design on feasibility as well as validity.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Assignment Evaluation of Epidemiological Problem Evaluation of Epidemiological Problem Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to · Provide learners with the opportunity to integrate knowledge and skills learned throughout this course · Directly apply principles and knowledge learned in the course to problem solving of population health problems in their own geographic areas. Course Outcomes This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes: 1. Define key terms in epidemiology, community health, and population-based research. 2. Compare study designs used for obtaining population health information from surveillance, observation, community, and control trial based research. 3. Identify appropriate outcome measures and study designs applicable to epidemiological subfields such as infectious disease, chronic disease, environmental exposures, reproductive health, and genetics. 4. Apply commonly used measures of health risk. 5. Examine current ethical/legal issues in epidemiology. 6. Identify important sources of epidemiological data. 7. Evaluate a public health problem in terms of magnitude, person, time, and place. Due Date: Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 6. Total Points Possible: 150 Requirements This paper should clearly and comprehensively identify the disease or population health problem chosen. The problem must be an issue in your geographic area and a concern for the population you will serve upon graduation with your degree. The paper should be organized into the following sections: Assignment Evaluation of Epidemiological Problem 1. Introduction with a clear presentation of the problem as well as significance and a scholarly overview of the paper. 2. Background of the disease including definition, description, signs and symptoms, and current incidence and/or prevalence statistics current state, local, and national statistics pertaining to the disease. (Include a table of incidence or prevalence rates by your geographic county, state, and national statistics.) 3. A review of current surveillance methods and any mandated reporting or methods for reporting the disease for providers. 4. Conduct descriptive epidemiology analysis of the disease including who is more frequently affected and characteristics of the population that might help in creating a prevention plan. Include costs (both financial and social) associated with the disease or problem. 5. Review how the disease is diagnosed, current national standards for screening or prevention, and pick one screening test and review its sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, cost and any current national guidelines for conducting which patients to conduct this test on. 6. Provide a brief plan of how you will address this epidemiological disease in your practice once you are finished with school. Provide three actions you will take along with how you will measure outcomes of your actions. 7. Conclude in a clear manner with a brief overview of key points of the entire disease, Preparing the Paper · Page length: 7-10 pages, excluding title/cover page · APA format 6th edition · Include references when necessary. · Include at least one table to present information somewhere in the paper. Directions and Grading Criteria Category Points Possible Points Earned Comments Scholarly Introduction (clear presentation of problem) 10 Background and significance of the disease (includes incidence or prevalence statistics) 25 Current surveillance methods 25 Descriptive epidemiological analysis (includes characteristics of the at-risk population and/or those affected by the disease and costs of the disease) 25 Screening and diagnosis (includes review of current guidelines for screening and diagnosis of the disease. In-depth review of statistics one screening or diagnostic test provided) 25 Plan of action (includes at least three evidenced based actions, supported by literature, that the student will take in their own practice and how outcomes will be measured) 25 Conclusion 10 Mechanics of writing, APA 5 Total 150 Total Points earned = A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the criteria requirements.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation Hi Class, Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts. Contact me if you have any questions. Important information on Writing a Discussion Question Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references) There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article. Include in-text citations in your response Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information Follow APA-7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week. Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references) Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count. Follow APA 7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points. Here are some helpful links Student paper example Citing Sources The Writing Center is a great resource Welcome to class Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to. I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you. Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations. Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements. Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week. I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Turn the brief into deliverables

01A population health problem specific to your own area.
02Local data sources identified and used.
03Definitions of the key epidemiological and community health terms.
04A comparison of surveillance, observational, community and trial designs.
05Age adjustment addressed where local comparison is made.
06A proposed design with outcome measures, defended on feasibility.