Design and Conduct of Observational Studies and Clinical Trials

This chapter provides an overview of various study designs and their advantages and disadvantages. Epidemiologic study designs are rich and diverse, spanning studies involving single patients observed at the bedside to those conducted on a population-wide, national, or international basis. Epidemiologic study designs are rich and diverse, spanning studies involving single patients observed at the bedside to those conducted on a population-wide, national, or international basis. There are various types of study designs. The simplest study design is a description of a particular clinical phenomenon in a case report or case series. Other complex study designs include cross-sectional survey design, case-control study, prospective longitudinal studies, and clinical trials.