Risky Behavior
When you're talking about things like margins of error, chi-squares and weighted data, it's easy to sound esoteric. But journalists and epidemiologists from around the country transcended the stereotype Jan. 23-25 at the first-ever Risky Behavior health care conference. Sponsored by IRE and NICAR and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the workshop gave journalists and epidemiologists the chance to share ideas and concerns face-to-face. "Workshops Risky Behavior put beat-specific, analysis-oriented sessions over geekism," said David Heath, director of computer-assisted reporting at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I think that they serve to make CAR more relevant in the newsroom."
People on both sides came away from the conference with a new appreciation for each other. "I think the researchers learned just as much about how reporters are using CAR as we learned about the rigors of social science," said Paul Garber, CAR specialist at the Post-Dispatch.
The two groups have at least one common goal: giving people accurate information. Both sides use extensive research to do this.
A large part of the seminar was spent discussing the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The survey questions in the system cover topics ranging from seatbelt use to AIDS testing. Answers are compiled in a database that the CDC makes available.
Sarah Cohen, NICAR training director, taught participants how to get statistics from the data using SPSS, a statistics program that lets users compile statistics with the push of a button.
"The statistics-speak was pretty understandable," said Diane Targovnik, news editor of Managed Health Care News. "All the speakers emphasized that you can't look at data and run to a conclusion."
One researcher clarified for Heath that with enough interest and perseverance, anyone can do fairly sophisticated analysis. "Not that I expect many reporters to start doing double-blind trials," Heath said.
The conference also included information on other types of health-care data, where to get it and how to use it. A Web site with follow-up information is in the works.