School Of MedicineData Management and Programming for EpidemiologyWestern Sydney University Unit Code: 401179.1
Discipline: EPIDEMIOLOGY
Student Contribution Band: 2
Level: 7
Credit Points: 10
Assumed Knowledge
High school mathematics (arithmetic, formulas and algebra, reading graphs). Basic computer competency and basic programming skills.
Prerequisite
401077 Introduction to Biostatistics
Unit Enrolment Restrictions
Students must be enrolled in a postgraduate course.
About this Unit
Modern epidemiology deals with ever increasing volumes of data and complexity of analysis. This course is aimed at equipping students with effective practices for managing data and programme code and ensuring the security of their data. Students will be taught the fundamentals of managing code and data in a revision control system as well as good programming practices and techniques which can form a basis for a robust, repeatable and test-driven research methodology. Programming instruction and exercises will use the SAS and R languages, and SQL databases.
Special Requirements - Essential Equipment
Home computer or laptop or access to a machine on which software can be installed. (Necessary for assignments). Software required includes Git (free, open-source, multi-platform), and one or both of SAS (proprietary, Windows only, but a no-cost version able to run on Apple computers is available) and R (free, open-source, multi-platform).