Study Design - Jones & Bartlett Learning

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222Study DesignDesigning a research Study is not a simple task. Just as the key elements anddeterminants of outcomes of war are fixed even before it is fought ( , at itsplanning stages), the success of a Study is also largely determined at its initialplanning stage. Successful studies need to address two important dimen-sions: reliability and validity. A reliable Study should be replicable, providingsimilar results if the same Study parameters are applied. Validity is concernedwith the ability of the Study to correctly answer the question it asks. Internalvalidity deals with the ability of the Study to correctly infer about the relation-ship between the independent variables and the outcome(s) being validity deals with application of the findings to other observations,samples, or populations and implies generalizability of the Study results.

26 STUDY DESIGN BOX 2.2 General Properties of Case-Control Studies Definition: Case-control studies compare cases and disease-free controls for their exposure status and compare the risk of exposure in cases and controls.

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