Blinding and Allocation Concealment
Blinding and allocation concealment are used in Randomised control trials (RCTs) to reduce systematic bias
Category Clinical Research
Chi-square Test
Chi-square Test is used to compare categorical data; often displayed in contingency table with rows (x) and columns (y)
How to conduct a clinical trial
Broad overview of the complicated process of conducting a clinical trial. Conducting a clinical trial can be conceptualised as having 14 key steps
Subgroup Analysis
Subgroup analysis involves assessing an association between an intervention (or other factor) and a subset of the patients that were exposed. Subgroup analysis can be decided upon a priori or performed post hoc
Before-and-after studies
Non-experimental observational study design used to assess the effect of an intervention based on comparison of outcomes prior to its use and afterward
Types of Research Studies
Types of study design arranged by level of evidence, from low to high
Publication Practices Distort Science
Scientific information is an economic commodity, and that scientific journals are a medium for its dissemination and exchange. As such it is subject to economic factors that affect the value of scientific information and how it is exchanged.
Retrospective Studies and Chart Reviews
Retrospective studies are designed to analyse pre-existing data, and are subject to numerous biases as a result. Types of retrospective studies include: case series; retrospective cohort studies; case-control studies
Standardised Mortality Ratio
Standardised Mortality Ratio SMR is the ratio of the observed or actual hospital mortality and the predicted hospital mortality for a specified time period.
Error in Research
Error in research can be systematic or random; systematic error is also referred to as bias
Data Distributions
Data can be described by different distributions, which has implications for how the data is analysed using statistical methods
Fisher’s Exact Test
Fisher's Exact Test is to compare categorical data; more complicated to perform than the Chi square test; only generally applicable in 2 x 2 contingency table