Observational Research Design Flashcards
What is the purpose of observational research
To observe and describe events in a population
What is the aim of a descriptive, non-analytic study
Provide an insight into what is happening in a population - eg. Prevalence of a disease, or experienced of a group
What does a descriptive study method include
Case reports, case-series and serveys
Measure the frequency of several factors, and can get a sense of the magnitude of a problem or phenomenon within a group
What is descriptive studies
Cross sectional survey design
Establishes an overview of a given issue within a specified group of people at a fixed point in time
What are the 3 steps of a cross sectional survey design
1 - formulate a research question
2- plan the research study
3 construct or select the instrument for a data collection
What are instuments for data collection in a cross sectional survey design
Interviews, questionnaires
What do questionnaires consist of
Postal survey, internet based survey, location based surveys e.g work place surveys
What do structured interviews consist of
Telephone interviews, face to face ‘street’ based surveys
what are the 10 stages of the survey process?
1) Know the overall population and identify the overall research question and topics to be covered
2)Decide on a mode for the survey
3)Design the questionnaire covering all the topics. 4)Check for any bias in the design.
5)Test your questionnaire and modify if necessary. 6)Select a sample to pilot the questionnaire (same population as the research sample?)
7)Select the sample. Be aware of the various procedures to reduce sampling bias
8)Roll out the survey and monitor responses
9)Organise the data
Weigh the data
10)Analyse the data, discuss the findings, check for potential bias
Present the findings
what is an analytical study
attempts to quantify the relationship between two factors to establish if there is an association between the exposure and outcome- incidence, possible cause, prognosis of a disease or phenomenon in a population
what are the key methods in analytic observational studies?
cohort. cross-sectional and case-control studies
what are analytic studies used in?
epidemiology, which is the study of the incidence and prevalence of disease in populations
what is a prospective cohort study
looks at a group of people with exposure to risk of developing a condition or illness- but are disease free at this point. this is compared to a comparison group who are not known to be exposed to the risk. they are then followed over time to see if a disease occurs from this exposure.
what is a retrospective cohort study
looking at historical data using a cohort design.
what is a typical case-control study
comparison of two groups:
- PARTICIPANTS who already have the condition / illness being studied are called the CASES.
- PARTICIPANTS without that illness are called the CONTROLS
Matched for age, gender, and other relevant variables.
TRACK BACKWARDS to identify previous exposure to risk factors under investigation.
