Epidemiologists ask various questions when evaluating whether to conduct a health study in a community. Answering both the basic and advanced questions successfully will provide the "building blocks" to conduct a good study. If there are strong answers to these questions, a health study may be appropriate from a scientific point of view. Other practical considerations, such as funding and stakeholder support, will then need to be considered.

	ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL VALUE OF A HEALTH STUDY
BASIC QUESTIONS The most basic questions are essential questions that need to be answered before going any further. We should note that "basic" doesn't necessarily mean easy.   ADVANCED QUESTIONS If epidemiologists have good answers to the "basic questions," they can continue on to the "advanced questions," which are more technical and complex. To answer these questions, we must take a more detailed look at the populations we plan to include in our study.