Abstract
Every year in Australia, at 3 PM on the first Tuesday in November, the entire country stops. It stops, listens, and watches…a horse race, the Melbourne Cup. Many countries have their own iconic horse race, such as the Kentucky Derby in the United States and the Grand National in the United Kingdom, to name just a couple of major races. Horse racing has contributed much to modern day culture, some good and some not so good, but it has also provided a wonderful axiom, “horses for courses”. The meaning is clear: the features of horse races vary substantially, in their length and conditions, favoring some horses and disadvantaging others. Some horses are suited to some races, others to different races.
This analogy reflects the reality of the research matrix in health care. The nature of the question determines the appropriate design to answer the question. Putting aside the complexities of feasibility and funding, randomized controlled trials are the preferable design for determining the effects of health care interventions, cohort studies for prognostic questions, cross-sectional analytic questions for diagnostic test accuracy, and so on.
This analogy reflects the reality of the research matrix in health care. The nature of the question determines the appropriate design to answer the question. Putting aside the complexities of feasibility and funding, randomized controlled trials are the preferable design for determining the effects of health care interventions, cohort studies for prognostic questions, cross-sectional analytic questions for diagnostic test accuracy, and so on.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-3 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | American Journal of Kidney Diseases |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Qualitative research
- Chronic kidney disease (CKD)
- Patients
- Health care