Dornsife School of Public Health
Nesbitt Hall
3215 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Please note this course takes place over three days (Friday 1:30-5:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 9:00am-4:30pm). This course will provide students with the foundational
knowledge and skills necessary to complete their own analyses of data
from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
NHANES is a continuous annual survey designed to assess the health and
nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The
course is comprised of didactic presentations and a hands-on lab. The
course will review the survey design and sampling; survey components
(i.e., questionnaires, dietary data, laboratory data, and examination
data); measurement; and navigation of data documentation. During the
laboratory component, students will conduct an analysis of NHANES data
that covers the following: 1) data acquisition and management (e.g.,
downloading the data; merging data from multiple data files), 2)
combining data from multiple years, 3) use of weights (i.e., which
weights to apply, creating weights for multiple survey cycles), 4) use
of data from multiple survey components (e.g., combining questionnaire
data with lab data), and 5) descriptive and multivariable analyses. Note
that the purpose of the class is to provide hands-on, practical
experience in conducting analyses of NHANES data. While the course will
include a series of scripted labs, there will also be an opportunity for
you to conduct an analysis of your own. The course will be taught in
Stata, but students with proficiency in other statistical packages can
work in other packages.