This workshop will provide participants with a basic overview of several decision theory topics and relate theory to practice in the context of health system research. The broad theory topics that we will introduce from a theory and practice perspective are expected value of information, the value of a statistical life, and decision-making under uncertainty.  In support of these concepts, additional topics that may be discussed at a superficial level include risk aversion, anchoring, discounting, and utility theory.  The formal notation that can succinctly and precisely communicate decision theory will be included in the lecture, while we will primarily emphasize the concepts through visualizations and real world examples. The course will include lecture and exercise components. We will challenge participants to apply the theoretical concepts to clinical examples through hands-on exercises.  This course is meant to be fun and intuitive and will help participant’s discuss the theory that underlies their research.

By the end of this course participants will:

• Develop intuition on a range of decision theory concepts
• Gain an ability to discuss and describe decision theory topics and how they relate to a participant’s research agenda
• Understand how decision theory influences practical applications in clinical settings including implied assumptions and limitations to theoretical frameworks