Table 3 Examples of study design: advantages and pitfalls in a global health setting
Study design | Examples | Considerations |
|---|---|---|
Experimental designs | Clinical trial Educational intervention Quality/process improvement | • For clinical trials, there must be reasonable uncertainty about whether the intervention or standard of care is better (equipoise) [36] • Educational and quality improvement projects may allow comparison of the same group before and after • Outcomes from educational interventions can be knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors |
Observational designs [37] | Prospective cohort Retrospective cohort Case-control Descriptive epidemiology | • Review of existing records from a retrospective cohort or case-control requires reliable clinical or administrative records • Surveys and interview tools should be either validated tools from the published literature or carefully designed and reviewed [38] • Prospective data collection may require more time and personnel |
Qualitative design [39] | Interviews | • May generate new ideas for further testing |
Pilot study | Small-size project to assess feasibility | • Identifies potential problems prior to larger-scale study [40] |