A Public Health Nurse (PHN) Is Explaining to a Nursing

A public health nurse (PHN) is explaining to a nursing student how to use health statistics to understand population health. The nursing student wants to administer a survey about smoking behaviours to students in various grade levels within the school district to identify the best grade to initiate health education. A follow-up survey will be administered to assess the effectiveness of the educational program. What type of research design would be best at providing the epidemiological information needed in this scenario?

A) Cross-sectional study
B) Cohort design
C) Randomized control trial
D) Case-control methodology