Section outline

  • Selection Bias

    Internal vs. external validity; definition and classification of bias; distinguishing bias from random error; spotting and minimizing selection bias in descriptive, cross-sectional, case-control, and longitudinal (e.g., cohorts or trials) studies

    Faculty:  Jeffrey Martin

    Location: Zoom

    • Prospectus:

    • Announcements Week 6 File

    • Lecture Slides:

    • Selection Bias 2022 File

    • Lecture Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students): 

    • Large Group Discussion (Access restricted to registered students): 

      Brief formal review of lecture followed by question and answer discussion. Recorded lecture should be viewed prior to this session.

    • Watch 2022 Media Resource
      Not available unless: You belong to Registered Students Only

    • Recommended Reading:

    • S & N:  Ch. 4, sections 4.1 - 4.2 (p. 127 - 135) and sections 4.4 - 4.4.2 (p. 153 - 159)

    • Optional Reading:

    • Stovitz SD et al. Paediatric obesity appears to lower the risk of diabetes if selection bias is ignored. J Epidemiol Community Health 72:302–308, 2018 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Hernán MA, Hernández-Díaz S, Robins JM. A structural approach to selection bias. Epidemiology. 15:615-25, 2004. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Robinson et al. Systematic review identifies number of stategies important for retaining study participants. J Clin Epi 60:757-765, 2007. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Cole et al. Illustrating bias due to conditioning on a collider. International Journal of Epidemiology 39:417-420, 2010. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Schwartz S et al. Toward a clarification of the taxonomy of bias in Epidemiology textbooks. Epidemiology 26:216-222, 2015. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Hernan MA. Selection bias without colliders Am J Epidemiol. 185:1048–1050, 2017. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Westreich et al Target validty and hierarchy of study designs American J Epi 2019 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Smith L Selection mechanisms and their consequences: Understanding and addressing selection bias Curr Epi Rep 2020 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Assignment: Problem Set 6

    • Problem Set 6 Selection Bias 2021 File

    • Assignment Due Date:  October 25, 2022 at the beginning of Small Group Discussion

    • Assignment Answer Key (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Problem Set 6 Selection Bias Answer Key 2022 File
    • Problem Set 6 Selection Bias Answer Key 2022 File
    • Problem Set 6 Selection Bias Answer Key 2022 File