ONLINE MODULE 4

define critical appraisal

process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness and its value and relevance in a particular context

define validity

the extent to which conclusions are true within the specific context of the research

describe trustworthiness of results

ensure that the findings are not skewed by bias or personal motivations

define relevance

extent to which research is useful

what is scientific relevance

study which increases understanding of the topic

what is societal relevance

study which society directly benefits from

what are some points asked to deem if an experiment is ethical

was there a need for the trial

was informed consent given

was there any conflicts of interest

define power

the probability of rejecting the null

what does sample size influence

precision of estimates

power of study to draw conclusions

how can we minimise bias

effectively randomise

match participants

study blinding

define selection bias

error in how participants are selected to take part in the study

define information bias

error in measurement

define confounding bias

when the effects of multiple factors intertwine

what are the 2 types of statistics we use

descriptive and comparative

give some examples of descriptive statistics

mean

standard deviation

median

mode

give some examples of comparative statistics

t tests

chi squared

ANOVA

what is an endpoint

an event or outcome which can be measured objectively to determine if the intervention has been beneficial

when do we define the endpoint

prior to starting the study