Table 1 How public health triangulation differs from conventional epidemiologic analysis

Inductive, empirical

Deductive

Emphasis on 'best possible' existing data

Emphasis on data of highest scientific rigor

Focus on plausibility as basis for conclusions (with or without statistics)

Focus on statistics as basis for conclusions

Focus on external validity: "Can observed effects be generalized to the larger population?"

Focus on internal validity: "Did A cause B in our study?"

Based on inter-connected pieces of the same situation

Based on independent samples

Qualitative interpretation

Mathematical modeling

Goal: public health decision-making

Goal: increasing scientific knowledge