Types of study

Question 1

Anecdote/case studies

Answer 1

quick and easy
not scientific, not able to test hypothesis
observer bias

Question 2

Ecological study

Answer 2

group defined by time, geography and social-demographics
less prone to bias
Do population level measures hold for the individual

Question 3

case control study

Answer 3

people who do have disease are compared with people who do not have disease

Rarer disease/exposures
cheaper and quicker than cohort
Prone to selection bias and participation bias
finding a suitable control group = difficult

Question 4

Cohort study

Answer 4

Compared diseases between an exposed study cohort and a an exposed study cohort

multiple outcomes can be viewed
direct measure of incidence
detection of unexpected effects
expensive, inefficient for rare diseases
large and long

Question 5

Randomised control trial

Answer 5

Test how well an intervention works. Control group given treatment under test. Placebo and randomised
prone to bias from patients dropping out of treatment group
Bias is removed especially if double blind. Not real life, high cost and could be seen as inappropriate/unethical