Questions of Public Health

• Published in: Crowdsourced Health p. 67
• Main Author: Yom-Tov, Elad
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United States MIT Press 2016; The MIT Press
• Subjects: Algorithms; Anthropology; Applied anthropology; Applied sciences; Behavioral sciences; Computer science; Cultural anthropology; Cultural customs; Disease outbreaks; Disease risk; Drug effects; Epidemiology; Festivals; Health and wellness; Health sciences; Information Science; Internet Studies; Medical conditions; Medical sciences; Music festivals; Pharmaceutics; Pharmacologic actions; Popular music festivals; Predisposing factors; Public health; Rock festivals; Side effects
• ISBN: 0262034506; 9780262034500
• DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/10393.003.0006

Epidemiological research is the cornerstone of public health, since it informs decision makers about the risk factors of various diseases. In many cases, an epidemiologist will begin by forming a hypothesis as to what might cause a medical condition, then laboriously collect data to support the hypothesis. This process is, to a large extent, limited by the imagination of researchers. If no one thought cigarettes caused cancer, perhaps no one would collect the necessary data to prove this link. Even when one does form a hypothesis, collecting enough data may take years. Mass production of cigarettes began in the late