For two decades, Understanding Clinical Papers has been helping students and professionals understand the research that supports evidence-based practice. Now in its fourth edition, this popular introductory textbook covers every major aspect of reading and evaluating clinical research literature, from identifying the aims and objectives of a paper to analysing the data with different multivariable methods. Numerous excerpts from actual clinical research papers make learning real and immediate, supported by a unique visual approach that reinforces key points and connects examples with the chapter material.

The fourth edition includes extensively revised content throughout, including four brand-new chapters covering qualitativestudies, Poisson regression, studies of complex interventions, and research using previously collected data. New and updated material discusses the difference between clinical and statistical significance, the consequences of multiple testingand methods of correction, howtopic guides are used to explore and explain participants' experiences, standardised guidelines for writing trials and reviews, and much more. Offering clear explanations of important research-related topics, this reader-friendly resource:

* Offers a clear, concise, and accessible approach to learning how to read and analyse clinical research literature

* Features new coverage of qualitativeresearch, includingdescriptive studies, sampling and populations,and identifying, summarising, and measuring qualitative characteristics

* Provides new material on missing data, sub-group analysis, feasibility and pilot studies, cluster randomised trials, and adaptive trial designs

* Includes new tables, abstracts, and excerpts from recent clinical research literature

Understanding Clinical Papers is essential reading for all healthcare professionals and students, particularly those involved in clinical work and medical research, as well as general readers wanting to improve their understanding of research literature.

DAVID BOWERS, Medical Statistician, University of Leeds Medical School, UK.

ALLAN HOUSE, Professor, Director of Leeds Institute of Health Science, University of Leeds, UK.

DAVID OWENS, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, Leeds Institute of Health Science, University of Leeds, UK.

BRIDGETTE BEWICK, Senior Lecturer in Health Research, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, UK.

Klappentext

UNDERSTANDING CLINICAL PAPERS

FOURTH EDITION

For two decades, Understanding Clinical Papers has been helping students and professionals understand the research that supports evidence-based practice. Now in its fourth edition, this popular introductory textbook covers every major aspect of reading and evaluating clinical research literature, from identifying the aims and objectives of a paper to analysing the data with different multivariable methods. Numerous excerpts from actual clinical research papers make learning real and immediate, supported by a unique visual approach that reinforces key points and connects examples with the chapter material.

The fourth edition includes extensively revised content throughout, including four brand-new chapters covering qualitative studies, Poisson regression, studies of complex interventions, and research using previously collected data. New and updated material discusses the difference between clinical and statistical significance, the consequences of multiple testing and methods of correction, how topic guides are used to explore and explain participants' experiences, standardised guidelines for writing trials and reviews, and much more. Offering clear explanations of important research-related topics, this reader-friendly resource:

• Offers a clear, concise, and accessible approach to learning how to read and analyse clinical research literature
• Features new coverage of qualitative research, including descriptive studies, sampling and populations, and identifying, summarising, and measuring qualitative characteristics
• Provides new material on missing data, sub-group analysis, feasibility and pilot studies, cluster randomised trials, and adaptive trial designs
• Includes new tables, abstracts, and excerpts from recent clinical research literature

Understanding Clinical Papers is essential reading for all healthcare professionals and students, particularly those involved in clinical work and medical research, as well as general readers wanting to improve their understanding of research literature.

Zusammenfassung

For two decades, Understanding Clinical Papers has been helping students and professionals understand the research that supports evidence-based practice. Now in its fourth edition, this popular introductory textbook covers every major aspect of reading and evaluating clinical research literature, from identifying the aims and objectives of a paper to analysing the data with different multivariable methods. Numerous excerpts from actual clinical research papers make learning real and immediate, supported by a unique visual approach that reinforces key points and connects examples with the chapter material.

The fourth edition includes extensively revised content throughout, including four brand-new chapters covering qualitativestudies, Poisson regression, studies of complex interventions, and research using previously collected data. New and updated material discusses the difference between clinical and statistical significance, the consequences of multiple testingand methods of correction, howtopic guides are used to explore and explain participants' experiences, standardised guidelines for writing trials and reviews, and much more. Offering clear explanations of important research-related topics, this reader-friendly resource:

• Offers a clear, concise, and accessible approach to learning how to read and analyse clinical research literature
• Features new coverage of qualitativeresearch, includingdescriptive studies, sampling and populations,and identifying, summarising, and measuring qualitative characteristics
• Provides new material on missing data, sub-group analysis, feasibility and pilot studies, cluster randomised trials, and adaptive trial designs
• Includes new tables, abstracts, and excerpts from recent clinical research literature

Understanding Clinical Papers is essential reading for all healthcare professionals and students, particularly those involved in clinical work and medical research, as well as general readers wanting to improve their understanding of research literature.

Preface to the First Edition vii

Preface to the Second Edition ix

Preface to the Third Edition xi

Preface to the Fourth Edition xii

Part I Setting the Scene: Who Did What, and Why 1

1 Some Preliminaries 3

2 The Abstract and Introduction 8

3 The Aims and Objectives 15

Part II Design Matters: What Type of Study Is It? 21

4 Descriptive Studies: Qualitative 23

5 Descriptive Studies: Quantitative 29

6 Analytic Studies 36

7 Intervention Studies 45

8 Mixed Methods Research 57

9 Studies of Complex Interventions 60

10 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 65

11 Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies 75

Part III The Cast: Finding Out About the Subjects of the Research 79

12 The Research Setting 81

13 Populations and Samples in Quantitative Research 85

14 Research Using Already-Collected Data 90

15 The Sample in Qualitative Research 95

16 Identifying and Defining Cases 99

17 Controls and Comparisons 102