Score:
0
/ 6
00:00
Types of Research Study
1. Two groups of patients are followed over time to compare outcomes based on exposure.
Clinical Rationale:
This describes a
prospective cohort study
. It starts with an exposure (e.g., a specific surgery) and follows the group forward to see the incidence of outcomes compared to a non-exposed group.
2. Reporting on the outcome of a specific group of patients with no control group.
Clinical Rationale:
This is a
case series
. It describes the medical history of multiple patients. While useful for rare conditions, it lacks a control group for statistical comparison.
3. Having appraised a number of relevant papers, a common estimate is reported with confidence intervals.
Clinical Rationale:
This is a
meta-analysis
. It is a statistical method that combines the results of several independent studies to derive a single conclusive finding.
Definitions in Statistics
4. This value is determined by taking the square root of the variance.
Clinical Rationale:
Standard deviation
is the square root of variance and expresses the spread of data in the same units as the mean.
5. This is a false-negative result – i.e. the null hypothesis is incorrectly accepted.
Clinical Rationale:
This is a
Type 2 (beta) error
. It occurs when a study fails to detect an effect that actually exists (false negative).
6. This statistical value is defined as (1 minus Type 2 error).
Clinical Rationale:
This defines the
Power
of a study. It is the probability that the study will correctly reject the null hypothesis when it is false.
