Practical session: Study designs I


Below you have three abstracts of three different study designs. Read carefully and complete the
table using information provided.

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                                              TABLE 1

                                             HIV study

                                        Tuberculosis study

                                        Hypertension study

                                           Type of study




                                         Outcome variable




                                        Predictor variables






                                         Hypothesis / aim






                                        Population size (#)





                                          Sampling method




                                     Time, follow-up, duration





                                    Intervention (yes/no, what)




                              Control/comparison group (yes/no, what)




                                        Statistical method





                                        Effect measurement






                                     Correlation or causation





                                              TABLE 2

                                             HIV study

                                        Tuberculosis study

                                        Hypertension study

                           Alternative explanations for the associations




                                     Analytical or descriptive




                                   Generalize findings (yes/no)




                  Rate the cost of the study from 1 (cheap) to 5 (very expensive)




                            Is the outcome an acute or chronic disease?




                                    Is this study useful? Why?






                                          Sources of bias






                       Rate the quality of evidence from 1(low) to 5 (high)




                                      Design a better study.

               How would you improve the design? (imagine you have unlimited money)