Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health

UNC introduces the questions and measures used to study health in populations. Disease frequency leads into study design, association and causality. It is a useful starting point for reading public-health findings without treating every observed relationship as proof of cause.

What you will learn

• Compare measures of disease frequency.
• Distinguish epidemiological study designs.
• Separate association from causal interpretation.

Who this suits

Learners seeking a foundational survey of epidemiology; preview the mixed-level quantitative examples before enrolling.

Before you enroll

This is education about populations and evidence, rather than individual treatment advice. Check the dates and setting of any statistics or policy examples. A completion certificate does not replace a professional public-health or clinical qualification.

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Put it into practice

Use a fictional dataset to compare disease frequency between two groups and list possible explanations other than a causal effect.

Source and review

This overview is based on the provider's published information, checked on 12 October 2026. It is an editorial assessment, not a claim that we completed the resource. Time filters are approximate study ranges; projects and exercises can take longer.

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