Includes bibliographical references and index.

Along with two collaborators, I analyzed the 2002, 2007, and 2012 alternative medicine supplement "yoga" data from the National Health Interview Survey. The purpose was to answer the following questions: Does the increase in the use of yoga as reported in the current literature hold true at the level of specific health conditions? Do trends support a proposition that users believe that yoga is helpful in ameliorating diseases? Do the prescribing patterns of health care providers correspond with the increasing popularity of yoga? I conducted a quantitative, observational, cross-sectional, retrospective, epidemiologic analytical, comparative study about the trends in the prevalence of certain aspects of the use of yoga. This is the story of my scholar's journey through this project. The case shows what led me to the topic, how my decision to conduct a retrospective observational study instead of prospective experimental study and a cross-sectional instead of longitudinal analysis was shaped by practical constraints, and how that influenced the formulation of my hypothesis. It also elucidates how and why I conducted a pilot study beforehand and how I resolved a dilemma about which statistical test to use due to my software choice. This case study concludes with five lessons learned and provides insights about navigating through practical difficulties of conducting research with limited resources.

Description based on XML content.

Licensed e-book