
Types of studies and research design
Author(s) -
Mukul Chandra Kapoor
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
indian journal of anaesthesia/indian journal of anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.645
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 0976-2817
pISSN - 0019-5049
DOI - 10.4103/0019-5049.190616
Subject(s) - medicine , protocol (science) , transparency (behavior) , research design , medical research , alternative medicine , evidence based medicine , clinical trial , quality (philosophy) , data extraction , data collection , medical physics , medline , management science , medical education , pathology , computer science , social science , philosophy , computer security , epistemology , sociology , political science , law , economics
Medical research has evolved, from individual expert described opinions and techniques, to scientifically designed methodology-based studies. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) was established to re-evaluate medical facts and remove various myths in clinical practice. Research methodology is now protocol based with predefined steps. Studies were classified based on the method of collection and evaluation of data. Clinical study methodology now needs to comply to strict ethical, moral, truth, and transparency standards, ensuring that no conflict of interest is involved. A medical research pyramid has been designed to grade the quality of evidence and help physicians determine the value of the research. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have become gold standards for quality research. EBM now scales systemic reviews and meta-analyses at a level higher than RCTs to overcome deficiencies in the randomised trials due to errors in methodology and analyses.