Exploratory data analysis in environmental health

Summary

This course teaches how to apply exploratory spatial data analysis to health information. Teaching focuses on the role of GIS and spatial statistics in spatial epidemiology. It proposes a context to investigate the relationship between health, quality of life, and environmental characteristics.

Content

Keywords

Exploratory spatial data analysis; epidemiology; environmental health; spatial epidemiology; Exposome; Geocomputation; EDA; ESDA;
Geovisualization; GIS; Geoda; Thematic mapping; Semiology of graphics; Spatial statistics; Scientific paper writing

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

It is compulsory that students have attended the course "Systèmes d'Information Géographique" (ENV-342). The notions taught during this course require a good knowledge of Geographic Information Systems and of GIScience basic concepts, as well as a perfect understanding of the english language.

Important concepts to start the course

Statistics; Spatial statistics; Geographic Information Systems; Epidemiology; Exposome; Environmental health

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Investigate the variation of attributes according to the change of the location of a set of spatial units
• Elaborate a research project based on the characteristics of a georeferenced data set available
• Formulate hypotheses to be validated in the context of a research project
• Report on the main results obtained in the context of a research project
• Interpret the main results obtained based on the spatial distribution of the objects under investigation
• Structure ideas and arguments in the context of the writing of short scientific papers
• Produce adequate geospatial data sets for the processing of spatial statistics and association models

Transversal skills

• Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.
• Use a work methodology appropriate to the task.
• Identify the different roles that are involved in well-functioning teams and assume different roles, including leadership roles.
• Take feedback (critique) and respond in an appropriate manner.
• Write a scientific or technical report.
• Summarize an article or a technical report.
• Negotiate effectively within the group.
• Make an oral presentation.

Teaching methods

• Ex-cathedra teaching
• Exercises (practicals in geolab)
• Collaborative work within groups
• Writing of short scientific articles
• Videos

Assessment methods

Continuous control during the semster:

• Excercises (individual) = 20%
• Writing a scientific article (group) = 30%

Oral exam:

• Individual = 50%

Supervision

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

No

Bibliography

- Anselin L, McCann M (2009) OpenGeoDa, Open Source Software for the Exploration and Visualization of Geospatial Data. In: Proceedings of the 17th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems, pp. 550-551. ACM, New York, NY, USA.

- Cui Yuxia, Balshaw David M., Kwok Richard K., Thompson Claudia L., Collman Gwen W., & Birnbaum Linda S. (2016). The Exposome: Embracing the Complexity for Discovery in Environmental Health. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(8), A137-A140. doi: 10.1289/EHP412

- Harris TM (2017) Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis: Tight Coupling Data and Space, Spatial Data Mining, and Hypothesis Generation. In: Regional Research Frontiers - Vol. 2, pp. 181-191. Springer, Cham.

- Morgenthaler, Stephan (2009) Exploratory data analysis. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Computational Statistics, 1, 33-44

- Siroux, V., Agier, L., & Slama, R. (2016). The exposome concept: a challenge and a potential driver for environmental health research. European Respiratory Review, 25(140), 124-129. doi:10.1183/16000617.0034-2016

- Tukey JW (1980) We Need Both Exploratory and Confirmatory. The American Statistician, 34, 23-25.

Notes/Handbook

Lecture notes will be gradually distributed to students during the semester.

Websites

• https://geodacenter.github.io/

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/ENV-444