Survey and Questionnaires, Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Flashcards
WEEK 1 REVIEW
WEEK 1 REVIEW
Clinical research is ________ research on _______ subjects focused on testing theories that help find new and better ways to detect, diagnose, treat, and prevent disease or develop theories.
- applied
- human
Preclinical research is _____ research on _________ focused on theory and understanding mechanisms of disease or therapies.
- basic
- animals
What are the 5 steps of the clinical research process?
- ) Identify the research question
- ) Design the study
- ) Implement the study
- ) Analyze data
- ) Disseminate findings
What are the 3 types of clinical research?
- Descriptive = describe populations
- Exploratory = find relationships
- Explanatory = cause and effect
What are the 2 main types of descriptive studies?
- Case report study
- Descriptive study
What are the 2 main types of exploratory studies?
- Cohort studies
- Case-Control studies
What is the main type of explanatory studies and is the standard of true experimental designs?
RCT
Compare cross-sectional study to longitudinal study.
Cross-Sectional
-Study a cohort of subjects at one point in time and draw conclusions about a population.
Longitudinal
-Follow a cohort of subjects over multiple points in time performing repeated measures.
Data levels of measurement are majorly _________ or ___________.
- continuous
- categorical
Data can be distributed normally or ______.
skewed (L or R)
Continuous data is described using the _____; ___________ and the _______; line graph.
- mean
- standard deviation
- histogram
Categorical data is described using the ________; __________ and the pie chart; bar graph.
- frequency
- proportion
_________________ is performed to make inference about the poplation group based on the sample group and its result produces p-value that is useful for interpretation.
Statistical hypothesis testing (SHT)
In SHT, type __ error is the probability of falsely rejecting the null hypothesis, type __ error is the probability of falsely retaining the null hypothesis, and the _______ is the probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis.
- Type I
- Type II
- power
__________ is constructed around a statistic to make inference about the population group based on the sample group. For interpretation, it is checked if it contains a null value of __ for mean difference and __ for ratio.
- Confidence Interval
- 0
- 1
- ____________ is an appropriate SHT for the two independent groups comparison of the means.
- ________________ is an appropriate SHT for the multiple independent groups comparison of the means.
- ___________ is an appropriate SHT for any number of groups comparison of the proportions/ratio.
- Student’s t-test
- Analysis of variance
- Chi-square
Surveys are one of the most popular methods for collecting descriptive or subjective data. Survey data can be used in __________, ____________, or ___________ studies.
experimental, exploratory, descriptive
Questionnaires are structured ________ that are self administered.
surveys
What are the advantages of questionnaires?
- generally more efficient than interviews because respondents complete them on their own time
- data can be gathered from a large sample in a wide geographical distribution in a relatively short time
- standardized written forms are used; it reduces potential bias from interactions with an interviewer
- particularly useful as a research method for assessing attitudes and values
What are the disadvantages of questionnaires?
- not as useful for studying behavior that require objective observation
- potential for misunderstanding or misinterpreting questions or response choices
- accuracy or motivation of the respondent unknown
What are common methods of distributing questionnaires?
- Through the mail
- In-person
- Electronically
What are the major concerns with surveys and questionnaires?
- Return rate is low and further lowered by incomplete, incorrect, or missing data.
- Self-report: the researcher doesn’t observe but only records data, can have potential for bias, recall bias when asked to remember
What are the 7 steps in designing a survey?
- ) Identify questions
- ) Formulate hypothesis
- ) Develop a questionnaire outline
- ) Review any existing instruments
- ) Design the instrument
- ) Preliminary drafts
- ) Pilot testing and revisions
Pilot testing is done on a small representative sample of 5-10 subjects from target population and will serve to check the ________.
validity
What is the difference between open-ended and closed-ended questions?
Open-Ended Questions
- Asks to answer in own words
- Useful for respondents feelings and opinions
- Used to determine range of responses to then be converted to multiple choice
- Difficult to code and analyze
Closed-Ended Questions
- Multiple response choices
- Easily coded
- Doesn’t allow for personal viewpoints
Closed ended questions should be __________ and ______________. What do these things mean?
- Exhaustive- include all possible responses that can be expected
- Mutually exclusive- each choice should clearly represent a unique answer
A ______ is an ordered system for a series of questions that provide an overall rating.
scale
What are the 3 types of scales?
- ) Categorical
- ) Continuous
- ) Ordinal
A categorical scale is used with categorical variables such as what?
- Gender
- Race
- Diagnosis
A continuous scale is used with continuous variables such as what?
- Age
- BP
- Years of experience
A ordinal scale is used with ordinal variables such as what?
- Pain (measured by minimal; moderate; severe)
- Function (independent; min/mod/max assist, dependent)
What are the 3 steps for Analysis of Survey Data?
- ) Enter collected responses into a computer program
- ) Code responses appropriately (0=male, 1=female etc)
- ) Analyze the data using appropriate statistical methods
- Descriptive statistics are used to describe ____.
- ______ and ______ for continuous variables.
- _______ and _______ for categorical variables.
- data
- mean and standard deviation
- frequency and percent
- Inferential statistics are to make decisions about _________ group.
- Statistical hypothesis testing such as ______, _______, ________, _________.
- population
- t-test, ANOVA, chi-square, confidence interval
Surveys and Questionnaires Summary:
- _______ is one of the most popular methods for collecting descriptive or subjective data.
- ___________ is a structured survey, self-administered, using pen / paper or electronic formats.
- For any survey study design, review any existing instrument or design your own.
- For a survey questionnaire, ______-_______questions are useful for asking subjective opinions
- For a survey questionnaire, _______-_______ questions are useful for easy coding and these must be exhaustive and mutually exclusive
- Scale is an ordered system for a series of questions that provide an overall rating. What are the 3 types?
- Survey
- Questionnaires
- open-ended
- close-ended
- categorical, continuous, ordinal
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS
________ Review is a research design that uses explicit methods to identify, select, appraise and synthesize results from similar but seperate studies.
Systematic
Systematic reviews of _____ are considered to be the strongest level of evidence.
RCTs
A __________ _________ review is a good source of information on the background of a specific topic. Does it include a detailed description of methods/criteria used to select and evaluate articles that are included?
- Traditional Narrative Review
- No
What are the 4 steps that differentiate a systematic review from a narrative review?
- ) Identify ALL evidence on the topic
- ) Selects them
- ) Appraise the quality of the evidence
- ) Summarizes them
A ______-_____ is a statistical method of combining large collections of results from multiple studies and synthesizes the results.
-meta-analysis
Do all systematic reviews have meta-analysis?
No, systematic reviews may be sufficient to qualitatively synthesize info when measurements are inconsistent or comparisons do not make sense.
What are the steps of the systematic review process?
- ) State the Study Objective (specific question)
- ) Develop the Protocol (inclusion/exclusion criteria)
- ) Develop a Search Strategy
- ) Conduct the Search
- ) Retrieve Relevant Paper
- ) Screen and Select Papers that Meet Criteria
- ) Evaluate Methodologic Quality of Selected Studies
- ) Analyze and Synthesize Findings
- ) Determine if Statistical Data are Sufficient For Further Analysis
- If statistical data IS NOT sufficient for further review we report results of _____________.
- If statistical data IS sufficient for further review we would analyze effect size estimated and report results of _____________________.
- Systematic Review
- Meta-Analysis
In systematic reviews, _______ of the review are the studies themselves. Selection criteria specify ________ and _________ requirements for studies to be used for the review.
- Subjects
- inclusion and exclusion
Selection criteria inclusion/exclusion requirements are based on types of what?
- studies
- participants
- interventions
- outcomes
_____s are the gold standard for systematic reviews, however, cohort studies/case-control studies/case series are valuable for the scope of knowledge about an intervention.
RCTs
What is the highest level of evidence?
Systematic review of RCTs
Systematic reviews have to set reasonable ranges for subject characteristics because study populations can be so _________.
variable
Selection criteria must indicate definitions of interventions and comparison treatment (if relevant) because studies are rarely consistent in the ___________ of interventions.
application
Selection criteria must indicate the choice of outcome measures because included studies will often have a _______ of outcomes.
variety
What are some types of possible outcome measures?
- Mean difference
- Odds ratio (OR)/ relative risk (RR)
- Standardized effect size (SES)
What is the goal of the Search Strategy?
To find a comprehensive list of relevant documents that should be considered.
What is publication bias and what are some examples?
-Systematic reviews are influenced by the literature that is available.
- Researchers may fail to submit the results of studies where the results are not statistically significant.
- Editors may decline to publish such studies.
Selected studies included in systematic reviews are to be critically reviewed by at least 2 primary reviewers. What are some scales that may be used to review studies?
- JADAD scale
- PEDro scale
- QUADAS scale
During data synthesis, we must determine if and how the results can be synthesized as well as the degree of ______geneity or ______geneity in the included studies.
- heterogeneity
- homogeneity
During ________ and _________ the reviewers integrate the findings to clarify the state of knowledge in a clinical context.
discussion and conclusions
Meta-analysis results are presented in _______ plot.
forest
Forest plots can answer what questions?
- What is the direction of effect?
- What is the size of effect?
- Whether the effects are consistent across studies?
Forest plots are only as good as the ______ in it.
studies
The ________ library is the place to find independent high quality evidence of systematic reviews.
cochrane
Systematic Reveiw and Meta-Analysis Summary
- ____________ is a research design that uses explicit methods to identify, select, appraise and synthesize results from similar but separate studies.
- _____________ is a statistical method of combining a large collection of results from individual studies.
- What 5 things must be done to conduct a systematic review?
- ________ plot presents meta-analysis results.
- _________ library is the place to find independent, high quality evidence of systematic review.
- Systematic Review
- Meta-Analysis
- specify selection criteria, specify search strategy, evaluate methodologic quality, synthesize data using meta-analysis if warranted, integrate findings
- forest
- cochrane
