Analysis of Epidemiologic Data Using R

This book addresses the description and analysis of occurrence data frequently encountered in epidemiological studies. With the occurrence of Covid-19, people have been exposed to the analysis and interpretation of epidemiological data. To be informed consumers of this information, people need to understand the nature and analysis of these data. Effort is made to emphasize concepts rather than mathematics. Subjects range from description of the frequencies of disease to the analysis of associations between the occurrence of disease and exposure. Those analyses begin with simple associations and work up to complex relationships that involve the control of extraneous characteristics. Analyses rely on the statistical software R, which is freeware in wide use by professional epidemiologists and other scientists.


Robert Hirsch retired as Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Adjunct Professor of Statistics at The George Washington University in 2010. He started at GWU in 1987, with the principal task of helping to develop a public health program. That program is now the School of Public Health and Health Services with more than 300 graduate students enrolled. One of Dr. Hirsch's contributions to this program was the development of courses in public health methodology. These courses continue to be an important part of the curriculum. They include courses in statistics, study design, evaluation of health research literature, questionnaire development, sampling, meta-analysis, and theoretical epidemiology.
Dr. Hirsch is probably best known for his textbooks and other publications that are intended to help people without a mathematics aptitude to understand quantitative issues that are integral to health research and practice. His ability to communicate technical information has been an important asset in his teaching and consulting work. His interest in relating statistics to real life problems prompted him to spend a sabbatical at the Center for Devices and Radiologic Health in the Food and Drug Administration. The purpose of this sabbatical was to understand how health methodology can best contribute to governmental regulatory issues. The result of this experience has also given Dr. Hirsch the ability to serve as an interface between industry and the government as well as train graduate students in real-world applications.