Table of Contents

🧪 Design (Clinical Research)
- 🔍 Key Components of Study Design
- 🎓 Common Study Designs

🧪 Design (Clinical Research)

Design refers to:

The structured plan or framework that defines how a clinical or scientific study is conducted to answer a specific research question.

🔍 Key Components of Study Design

🎯 Objective – The aim or hypothesis of the study
🧠 Type of study – e.g., observational, interventional, prospective, retrospective
👥 Population – Inclusion/exclusion criteria, demographics
🧪 Intervention or Exposure – What is tested or observed
📊 Comparison group – Control, placebo, or alternative exposure
📈 Outcome measures – Defined primary and secondary endpoints
🔍 Blinding and allocation – Methods to reduce bias

🎓 Common Study Designs

Study Type	Description
Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)	Participants are randomly assigned to intervention or control groups
Cohort Study	Observes outcomes in exposed vs. non-exposed individuals over time
Case-Control Study	Retrospective comparison of patients with and without an outcome
Cross-Sectional Study	Analyzes data at a single point in time
Retrospective Study	Uses existing data to examine past events
Systematic Review / Meta-analysis	Aggregates data from multiple studies to derive stronger evidence