Descriptive study

Classification of clinical studies

Intervention study

Observational study

comparative
groups

Randomized
controlled study

non-randomized
controlled
study

Cross-sectional
study

In a descriptive study , data are evaluated purely descriptively without any temporal or causal relationships being derived. Frequencies or frequency distributions can be specified for information compression. Inferential statistical methods for parameter estimation (for measures of the central tendency, measures of dispersion) can also be used. Examples of descriptive studies are registers such as cancer registers , death registers or birth registers . Case reports, case series or cross-sectional studies can also be included in this type of study. In contrast, in analytical studies, several groups are compared with one another in order to test (confirmatory) hypotheses. Analytical studies can be observational or experimental . However, the transition between descriptive and analytical studies is fluid. For example, if one describes certain phenomena in a subpopulation with a certain characteristic (age group, gender), one already describes a connection between the sociodemographic variable and the phenomenon.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Christel Weiß: Basic knowledge of medical statistics . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-34261-5 , pp. 222 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
^ Henrik Kessler =: Short textbook medical psychology and sociology . Georg Thieme Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-13-152473-7 , p. 72 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
^ Nicola Döring, Jürgen Bortz: Research methods and evaluation in the social and human sciences . Springer-Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-642-41089-5 , pp. 617 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ Jan TM van Eijk, JW Gubbels: Research methodology and general medicine: An introduction to the methodological and statistical principles of scientific research . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-73735-0 , pp. 29 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[:0-1] Christel Weiß: Basic knowledge of medical statistics . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-34261-5 , pp. 222 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[2] Henrik Kessler =: Short textbook medical psychology and sociology . Georg Thieme Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-13-152473-7 , p. 72 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[3] Nicola Döring, Jürgen Bortz: Research methods and evaluation in the social and human sciences . Springer-Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-642-41089-5 , pp. 617 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[4] Jan TM van Eijk, JW Gubbels: Research methodology and general medicine: An introduction to the methodological and statistical principles of scientific research . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-73735-0 , pp. 29 ( limited preview in Google Book search).