The coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the way we live, learn, and engage with one another. Even as our communities begin to reopen, taking preventive measures—such as wearing a mask to cover your nose and mouth, physical distancing, and frequently washing your hands—is still critically important to help reduce the spread of this virus. Unfortunately, these measures often make in-person learning much less feasible. Luckily with today’s technology, we are able to connect virtually to expand our knowledge base and build skills to help us conduct high-quality prevention research.
Providing training in prevention science methods to researchers at the NIH and across the larger prevention research community is an important part of the ODP's strategic plan. Training helps strengthen the skills necessary to conduct rigorous scientific research and encourages the use of the best methods, thereby promoting rigor and reproducibility in the prevention research that NIH supports.
The ODP has several online training resources that can help you learn something new or expand your understanding of a specific research method from the comfort of your own desk—wherever that might be these days.
- Methods: Mind the Gap Webinar Series
These hour-long webinars cover topics spanning research design, measurement, intervention, data analysis, and other methods in prevention science. They are led by experts in their respective research methodology. New webinars are held monthly and past webinars are recorded and available on our website.
- Pragmatic and Group-Randomized Trials in Public Health and Medicine
This 7-part online course helps investigators design and analyze group-randomized trials. It includes video presentations, slide sets, suggested reading materials, guided activities, and a list of course references.
- Training in Prevention Research Methods
A collection of federal courses, webinars, and online tutorials in study and intervention design, data analysis, and measurement methods.
- Resources for Researchers
A library of federal tools and resources designed to help researchers develop and conduct prevention research projects in a variety of topic areas. It includes data instruments, research findings, clinical practice guidelines, and examples of translating research into practice through public health programs, policies, and interventions.
Improving public health depends on finding better evidence-based interventions to reduce risk factors and prevent and/or delay the onset of health conditions. We cannot make progress in these areas unless we are using the best available methods in prevention science and constantly striving to develop better methods. The ODP is committed to enhancing the rigor and reproducibility of prevention research by continuously expanding our repository of training resources for prevention researchers around the world. We encourage you to sign up for our listserv to stay informed about our upcoming webinars and new training resources.