Disease Detectives B/C

[Nerd_Bunny]

So at my state tournament, (Idaho,) my partner and I got a question that neither one of us knew. The first part asked what the sensitivity was, and the second part I can't remember. So my question is, what other term could it have been asking for? I think it started with an 's' as well, but I'm not sure. Looking through my textbook glossary, I think it could have been severity, but I'm not sure. If anyone could help me out here, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[JoJoKeKe]

So at my state tournament, (Idaho,) my partner and I got a question that neither one of us knew. The first part asked what the sensitivity was, and the second part I can't remember. So my question is, what other term could it have been asking for? I think it started with an 's' as well, but I'm not sure. Looking through my textbook glossary, I think it could have been severity, but I'm not sure. If anyone could help me out here, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

It's been a while since I've done Disease Detectives but I think I can help you.

Sensitivity is basically the chance of having a specific disease given that you have a disease. It can be calculated as:

Sensitivity = Number of disease positives testing positive / Number of people with a disease who test positive for a particular disease + number of people with a disease who test negative.

Conversely, another term closely related is specificity (is this the word that you couldn't remember?) This is basically the reciprocal idea, but I think it is more of an emphasis on not having a disease and also testing negative.

Specificity = number of people who test negative and don't have a disease / number of people who test negative and don't have a disease + number of people who don't have a disease but test positive

Gosh-- I'm surprised that the Idaho competition even got that difficult. For the past few years the Disease Detectives test has been fairly easy at state (or if you were there in 2016 it had literally nothing to do with the event)

Hope this helps, and if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

[Nerd_Bunny]

So at my state tournament, (Idaho,) my partner and I got a question that neither one of us knew. The first part asked what the sensitivity was, and the second part I can't remember. So my question is, what other term could it have been asking for? I think it started with an 's' as well, but I'm not sure. Looking through my textbook glossary, I think it could have been severity, but I'm not sure. If anyone could help me out here, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

It's been a while since I've done Disease Detectives but I think I can help you.

Sensitivity is basically the chance of having a specific disease given that you have a disease. It can be calculated as:

Sensitivity = Number of disease positives testing positive / Number of people with a disease who test positive for a particular disease + number of people with a disease who test negative.

Conversely, another term closely related is specificity (is this the word that you couldn't remember?) This is basically the reciprocal idea, but I think it is more of an emphasis on not having a disease and also testing negative.

Specificity = number of people who test negative and don't have a disease / number of people who test negative and don't have a disease + number of people who don't have a disease but test positive

Gosh-- I'm surprised that the Idaho competition even got that difficult. For the past few years the Disease Detectives test has been fairly easy at state (or if you were there in 2016 it had literally nothing to do with the event)

Hope this helps, and if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Thank you! This helps a lot. I was there last year- I got silver. Yeah, it really didn't have anything to do with the event.

[Nerd_Bunny]

Anyone know of a place where I could find some Division B practice tests? The test exchange has none.

[efeng]

Your best bet is trying to contact your high school's Division C, and ask if they have a test exchange. I don't think there is a lot of that for Division B, it is super common in Div C (to my knowledge. Other than that, you could buy past nationals tests. However, that's about it.

[Alex-RCHS]

Your best bet is trying to contact your high school's Division C, and ask if they have a test exchange. I don't think there is a lot of that for Division B, it is super common in Div C (to my knowledge. Other than that, you could buy past nationals tests. However, that's about it.

How do you buy past nationals tests?

[maxxxxx]

Your best bet is trying to contact your high school's Division C, and ask if they have a test exchange. I don't think there is a lot of that for Division B, it is super common in Div C (to my knowledge. Other than that, you could buy past nationals tests. However, that's about it.

How do you buy past nationals tests?

They're available for purchase on the soinc.org store under "Test Packets"

[Taro]

Anyone know of a place where I could find some Division B practice tests? The test exchange has none.

The text exchange is still in the process of being finished, which is why you can't find any Division B practice tests right now. You can access the "old" test exchange by going to the Wiki and pressing "Tests" next to the event names (or through this link: https://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/2017_ ... Detectives).

[Nerd_Bunny]

Anyone know of a place where I could find some Division B practice tests? The test exchange has none.

The text exchange is still in the process of being finished, which is why you can't find any Division B practice tests right now. You can access the "old" test exchange by going to the Wiki and pressing "Tests" next to the event names (or through this link: https://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/2017_ ... Detectives).

Thanks!

[efeng]

Anyone know of a place where I could find some Division B practice tests? The test exchange has none.

The text exchange is still in the process of being finished, which is why you can't find any Division B practice tests right now. You can access the "old" test exchange by going to the Wiki and pressing "Tests" next to the event names (or through this link: https://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/2017_ ... Detectives).

Thanks!

However, past tests are probably based on Ecological Causes and Population Growth, rather than Foodborne Illnesses, which is this year and next year's topic.