Good Epidemiological Practice
KIT’s Good Epidemiological Practice work aims to improve data quality as a foundation for sound decision making in public health – for epidemiological studies, monitoring and evaluation activities and impact evaluation.
We take a broad view on data quality and give attention to both the processes of data generation (Have all voices been heard? Are the data collection tools appropriate?) as well as appraising the outcomes (Is the data accurate, complete and consistent?). Our work values both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
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Our flagship work
Advancing good epidemiological practice
Good data is a pre-condition for good decision making. Epidemiology shapes policy decisions and evidence-based practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for prevention. As the foundation of quantitative monitoring and evaluation activities and counterfactual impact evaluations, it also provides the evidence base for the scale-up of health interventions.
Our approach to good epidemiological practice
Our team facilitates the understanding and improvement of complex, multi-stakeholder processes of good epidemiological practice. Key to our approach is ensuring that affected populations and end-users are involved in each step of data generation. This is essential to generating high-quality and useful data.
Our work is grounded in three primary services, which together contribute to improved epidemiological practice and data quality:
- Develop and apply tools to improve epidemiological practice and data quality
- Apply state of the art statistical and epidemiological methods to appraise data quality. We give due consideration to qualitative research methods in order to obtain a comprehensive view of both processes of data generation and data quality.
- Training and capacity development. We offer regular short courses dedicated to GEP and Monitoring & Evaluation (French and English) from our educational centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Our Team & Expertise
Our team has decades of experience conducting and advising epidemiological studies and monitoring and evaluation in a diversity of contexts around the world. We come from a wide range of backgrounds—biomedical, statistical, clinical — and specialise in applying epidemiological and statistical methods in combination with qualitative research methods to support decision making for healthcare professionals and policy makers. We also draw on the expertise of KIT advisors working in health system strengthening, sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender.
Our experts
Our publications
Media Coverage
- ViceVersa – Helpen codes tegen ethics dumping?
Een klein aantal landen domineert de wetenschap, wat tot oneerlijke praktijken kan leiden. Een nieuwe generatie onderzoekers stimuleert verandering door krachtige ethische codes door te voeren. Een dubbelinterview met Doris Schröder en Sandra Alba, die allebei aan innovatieve richtlijnen werkten.
- Significance Magazine – Bats, parachutes and bridges: How can epidemiologists improve global health research practice?
Epidemiologist Sandra Alba is part of a team that developed a new set of guidelines to address issues of research integrity and fairness in international health research collaborations. In this article she explains what the guidelines hope to achieve, and how.
Related work
Epidemiology courses
KIT MAG
KIT MAG: an annual magazine packed with stories about our activities, at our campus in Amsterdam and with partners worldwide.
Browse the magazine online or take a copy with you when you visit KIT (at the reception).