Author Description

This text presents epidemiologic methods for studying injuries and evaluating interventions to prevent them. It explains the formation of research questions, the sources of reliable and valid data, and the choice of research methods. The difficulties of applying rates and ratios to the evaluation of programs are discussed, and the use of economic concepts and policy analysis is covered.The Second Edition provides specific objectives for research needed in the various stages of injury control planning and implementation, including the types of data needed to reach the objectives. In a progressive, step-by-step analysis, the posing of research questions and the research designs that best answer those questions are illustrated. Examples of the use of surveillance systems to direct allocation of countermeasures of known effectiveness are updated. The false nexus between causation and prevention is clarified and the notion of the causal web is demystified. New studies of the effects of behavioral interventions, laws, and regulations are reviewed. The increasing gap between what is known and what is assumed in regulatory and cost-benefit analyses is discussed.