Research Methods 1 Flashcards
(22 cards)
clinical decisons should be based on
best evidence
what determines the nature/source of evidence needed
the problem
the best evidence is
integrative
what 4 things should evidence be
identified, integrated, appraised and applied
what should be continuously evaluated ?
performance
what 3 things does evidence based medicine incorporate
- clinician expertise and judgment
- hierarchy of medical research evidence
- patient values, preferences and experiences
what does research ethics govern
the standards of conduct for researchers
what do research ethics protect?
the dignity, rights and welfare of human and animal research participants
Research ethics approval is provided by a committee…
- who review a research protocol
- to ensure appropriate ethical standards are being upheld
which studies require research ethical approvals?
- studies involving human/animal participantsif-
- gathering novel data or information
- creating knowledge that can be generalised beyond the participant sample or setting
which projects do not require ethical approvals
- Clinical Audit, as per service evaluation, but evaluating service AGAINST A BENCHMARK (e.g. national standard)
- Service Evaluations/Service Improvement/ Quality Improvement, Finds out something about THAT service which can be/is used to improve THAT service
what is exposure
risk factor for disease/outcome e.g. gender
what is outcome
it is the disease, condition or event of interest e.g. depression
prevalence
number of people who have disease at given time/number of people at risk of having disease at given time
Why might we be interested in prevalence
- informing clinical diagnosis
- understanding the disease/condition and its risk factors (exposures) and outcomes
- informing prevention and public health interventions
- informing service planning and commissioning
what is a cross sectional study
- it takes place at a single point in time
- it does not involve manipulating variable but rather, a defined population
- is surveyed to measure that variable of interest
- considers sveral characteristics at once
- prevalence is reported for the sample and/or subgroups based on exposure status
strengths of a cross-sectional study
Can compare prevalence in exposed and non-exposed to risk factors
Quick and inexpensive study type
Can be used to initially explore/inform a hypothesis, prior to another type of study
weaknesses of cross sectional studies
Not suitable for rare exposures/outcomes
Cannot separate cause (exposure) and effect (outcome) as they are measured at the same time
Cannot measure rate of new cases arising and any changes therein
strengths of primary cross sectional data
+ Control over how variable/s of interest measured
weaknesses of primary cross sectional data
More expensive and time-consuming
Difficult to achieve representative sample
strengths of secondary cross sectional data
+ Cheap
+ If anonymous, minimal to no ethical/governance approval needed
weaknesses of secondary cross sectional data
Limited by what data already gathered
Poor accuracy and missing data
