SPHG 711: Data Analysis for Public Health

Credit Hours: 2

This course is completed as part of the 14-credit integrated Core public health training program completed by all MPH students in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Public health practitioners work to improve population-wide health outcomes and reduce health disparities. To succeed at this, they must be able to understand how to produce, use and interpret data analyses. Public health professionals use data to understand how different factors (predictors) may be associated with health outcomes of interest. Data analyses are also used to determine the extent to which different interventions may be effective. Thus, you must be able to use data to make convincing arguments for which factors are important determinants in a public health outcome and to understand public health issues. 

This course is an introductory course focusing on the biostatistics and data science commonly used in public health and medical research applications.

The students will use software to conduct straightforward analyses and to understand and make inferences from data. The focus will be on using data to understand associations and inform decisions, understanding commonly used methods from the public health literature, and interpreting results in language accessible to other public health professionals.

This course will integrate with the other MPH core courses by using examples from the other courses (readings and lectures) and by referencing and reinforcing topics from the other courses. This course will also reference ways that the analysis topics can contribute to a successful team project in the Understanding Public Health Issues course.

Academic Enrichment Program (Tutoring)

The SPH Academic Enrichment Program is available to provide supplementary tutoring for SPHG 711 at no cost to the students.