Welcome

What are you trying to do?

Something I need to watch regularly in public health and epidemiology.

Before you start. Monitors currently run from the command line rather than from a page. The engine works and is tested; the interface for setting them up is still being built, so this route is the least finished of the four.

Your path

Create the study

One study holds the whole series.

Chart it before you judge it

A control chart separates ordinary variation from a real change. Most month-to-month movement is noise, and acting on it makes a process less stable rather than more.

Set up a monitor

A saved analysis with a cadence. It re-runs and reports what moved, without claiming the movement is significant - two consecutive estimates are not independent samples.

Read the series, not the last point

Twelve points tell you what one never can.

What people in your field ask

In public health and epidemiologythe full guide

Define the population - sample it - describe with weights - compare groups - map the pattern - report the denominator.

How common is it, and how confident are we?survey proportion
Does it differ between districts, sexes or age bands?chi square independence
Our survey used clusters and weights. Does that change anything?survey mean
Is the disease clustered in particular places?morans i
Where exactly are the hot spots?getis ord

Watch for: Comparing rates across sites without checking the denominator means the same thing in both. Most disputes about a rate are disputes about the denominator.

Create your first study The full guide for public health and epidemiology Start again