The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) recently hosted a webinar, Validity Matters: Enhancing the Credibility of Health Research, offering seasoned and aspiring researchers valuable insights and practical tips to bolster the credibility of their work and to critique the studies they read or review. Led by IHSI’s Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Research Design (BERD) team, the event attracted more than 150 researchers from 35 units and 10 colleges across the Illinois campus as well as multiple external organizations. A video recording is available.
In the ever-evolving landscape of health, including public health, medicine, and social and behavioral science, the credibility of research findings is paramount. Validity, the cornerstone of scientific inquiry, ensures that our conclusions accurately reflect reality and can be relied upon to guide policy and practice.
During the webinar, IHSI Senior Research Biostatistician Jesus Sarol discussed the intricacies of validity assessment from the perspective of epidemiological research, explored validity in different aspects or stages of research study, such as subject selection, measurement, analysis, and interpretation, and described common pitfalls and their consequences.
According to Rothman, Greenland, and Lash, in their book, Modern Epidemiology, an epidemiologic study is an exercise in estimation. Emphasizing “estimation,” Sarol explained that population characteristics and determinants are measured as estimates in epidemiological studies.
“This is quite complicated in epidemiological studies, and one reason for this is the multifactorial causes of disease occurrence,” noted Sarol. “The other problem is the definition of variables; and by this, I mean that there are a lot of variations in measurements of variables as well as changes that occur over time.”
Sarol discussed the implications of assessing validity for research practice, how the knowledge of this mechanism can be helpful, what the arguments for validity of a study should address, and how to develop the skills needed to assess validity in a study, such as detecting validity issues, assessing their impact on a study, and offering remedies or actions. Researchers can develop these skills through training as well as experience.
Connect with IHSI
IHSI’s BERD team advises researchers to reach out to them to help ensure quality study design from the beginning and avoid complications in data analysis and result interpretation. Contact berd-ihsi@illinois.edu for assistance with designing studies and enhancing data collection, management, and analysis for health-related research projects.
“We realize there is a demand for a deep understanding of statistics with practical applications that can help researchers improve their studies,” said Fatima Ahmed, IHSI Assistant Research Biostatistician. “Most researchers are experts in their subject areas, but few have a rigorous grasp of statistics and may have statistical gaps in their study design.”
Each semester, the BERD team holds a webinar to discuss current and useful topics in statistics to support the Illinois research community. Subscribe to the IHSI newsletter to receive monthly updates about future events, core activities and services, education programs, workshops, partnership opportunities, and more.