Compare how uses of primary or secondary data influence study design

Study Designs Using Secondary Data
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of serious health conditions and death in the United States. This epidemic was first noticed during the 1940s, as cases of death occurring from infectious diseases were quickly being outnumbered by those of cardiovascular disease (Framingham Heart Study, 2012). Unlike with other diseases, researchers believed that cardiovascular disease had multiple causes that slowly evolved into the disease. As a result, researchers in the Framingham Heart Study sought ways to prevent the causes—or at least to delay the effects—of the disease by testing 11 major hypotheses about the causes of cardiovascular disease at the same time. This study was the first of its kind because it not only tested multiple causes for an epidemic, but it was also the first to study an epidemic for a long-term period (Framingham Heart Study, 2012). As a result of the vast amount of data collected, the Framingham Heart Study has become a secondary data source supporting the research of topics not originally hypothesized.
This week, you conduct an in-depth examination into the designs of research studies. You also consider your own study topic based on established data sets as you propose a research topic for your Scholar Practitioner Project.

• Compare how uses of primary or secondary data influence study design
• Evaluate secondary data sets to formulate research topics

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