To prepare for this class:

A. Please bring an outline (max 2 pages) of your group’s Sampling Strategy Project for discussion in class, and bring it to class in hard copy (two copies, please – one for me and Angela, one for another group to critique). In particular, make sure you:

• first make clear the purpose of your sampling strategy,
• address each of the elements of sampling strategy,
• ask yourself why you made the decisions you did, and
• what additional information you need to make rational decisions that you can justify.

In class, I will ask each group to give their outline to another for critique each and feedback.

B. We will read and discuss one important paper in class. The follow-up to the paper that we will discuss in class can be found here:

• Kromhout H, Loomis DP, Kleckner RC, Savitz DA. Sensitivity of the relation between cumulative magnetic field exposure and brain cancer mortality to choice of monitoring data grouping scheme. Epidemiology 1997;8(4):442-445 (link to paper)

C. When reading the paper above, please consider:

• Which of the grouping schemes resulted in the best exposure-response relationship in the epidemiological analysis?
• How does sampling for epidemiology differ from sampling for compliance?

D. The following papers may also be of interest while you work on your final assignments. They are classics of epidemiological sampling strategy, with an excellent description of the decision-making process.