2 - Core Research Tools
from Part I - Fundamentals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2025
Summary
In order to examine our three questions, we need objective research methods. Estimating whether a treatment can work, does work, and has value requires a wide range of research strategies. Evidence establishing that a treatment works under controlled conditions does not necessarily assure benefits when the intervention is applied in clinical practice. This chapter considers the development of a research protocol, and biases that might be attributable to participant recruitment, enrollment, retention, and dissemination of findings. In practice, establishing the value of a treatment should consider an examination of the existing literature, development of thorough research plans, recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen research methods, and integration of study results within a wider body of knowledge. We challenge beliefs in a hierarchy of methods that assumes some methods, such as the RCT, are free from bias.
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- Rethinking Clinical ResearchMethodology and Ethics, pp. 35 - 49Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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