Disease Detectives B/C

[Luo]

Who placed this year?

From 1st through 6th:
Division B: Daniel Wright JHS, Muscatel MS, Dodgen MS, Eagle Hill MS, Paul J. Gelinas MS, Piedmont MS
Division C: Camas HS, Seven Lakes HS, Centerville HS, Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Solon HS, Troy HS

[scio444]

For those who took Division B at nationals, how do you feel about the time delay? Was it fair?

[CaRoLyN_s]

For those who took Division B at nationals, how do you feel about the time delay? Was it fair?

ehhh, b/c everyone had to deal with it, it wasn't really BAD, but i feel like i could have done a lot better on the test with 5 minutes of extra time

[honeybunchesofoats]

Honestly, I feel like we did a lot better because of the time delay, so it was kind of unfair in that respect.

[havenguy]

Honestly, I feel like we did a lot better because of the time delay, so it was kind of unfair in that respect.

We did worse...we don't split up the test, so we got through about 51 out of 60 questions. With 10 extra minutes, we would almost certainly have finished. A shorter time span wouldn't have been as bad if we each did 30 questions, but oh well.

[CaRoLyN_s]

Honestly, I feel like we did a lot better because of the time delay, so it was kind of unfair in that respect.

What did you get?

[ptkid]

I thought the time screwed us up, but we could have prepared for it more. We didn't answer some questions. Anyways, did anyone see JC Booth get DQed or what 61th place is in Disease Detectives. I'm pretty sure they were in that room.

EDIT: Oh wait, it looks like the score sheet is fixed now and apparently JC Booth and Dogden are both 12th place even though Booth has a smaller score.

[senyab]

For those who took Division B at nationals, how do you feel about the time delay? Was it fair?

ehhh, b/c everyone had to deal with it, it wasn't really BAD, but i feel like i could have done a lot better on the test with 5 minutes of extra time

Yea, that time delay was my fault... I was *that* kid
Still managed to get 8th though

[CaRoLyN_s]

nice! we got really messed up in the odds ratio part, so we got 14th, but still, i'm happy.

[GrayEpi]

I just finished the winners tour of CDC for the 2013 team - my colleagues here at CDC were all impressed by the two winners. I am part of the team that develops the national events for Disease Detectives. I think you can count on the national continuing to emphasize critical thinking - at least as long as I have anything to do with it. That is what DD is all about. There will always be some of the basics - e.g. what study design did they use, what do they call the above graph of cases over time... because we want everybody to go home with at least some points. However we figure by the time y'all get to nationals you should have that down pretty well and we use the critical thinking questions to separate the real contenders from the pack. As for 2X2 tables - usually, but not always, you should be able to find the numbers in the text or calculate them fairly easily at the Division B level. At the Division C level, you will often have to calculate them and the calculations may not always be obvious. You may need to select the right numbers out of a collection (hint: pay attention to what we are asking for - the risk of X compared to Y - make sure you pick the correct X and Y). You may even need to calculate the numbers used to calculate the numbers in the table. I've worked on every national event except the one for the Augusta tournament. They have gotten progressively more difficult over the years. You folks are doing great at this. Stick with it. Epi is one of those things that does not make much sense at first, then the lights start to come on. I did not really get it until I started investigating outbreaks on my own. The first time I thought "Huh???", the second time I thought "Uh huh.", the third time was "Oh yeah!!!". I am still amazed at how well this stuff works. Constantly be thinking about how your methods may have influenced your results cause they sure do. Good luck. I just joined this forum. I plan on spending most of my time as a lurker but feel free to call on me if y'all get stuck. I'll try to help if I can. There are some exciting rule changes coming up for 2013.