Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing - NURS 122

Types of Research Studies

What is a primary research article?

Study Designs (Cross-sectional, Case-control, Cohort) | Statistics Tutorial | MarinStatsLectures

Types of Research Used for Evidence-Based Practice

More on Types of Research Studies

(borrowed from 'Components of a Research Paper')

Basic research is done in a lab or clinical setting. Applied research is done with real subjects in real-world situations.

Case Study: provides significant and detailed information about a single participant or small group of participants. Case studies do not usually require much statistical analysis and can not often be repeated. Case studies sometimes are used to identify areas for additional research and exploration.

Clinical Trial Study: Most often used in health and medical treatments which will presumable yield a positive effect. A small group of people or animals are selected based on the presence of a specific medical condition and the group is used to evaluate the effectiveness of a new medication or treatment, differing dosages, or new applications of existing treatments.

Correlational Study:  Correlational studies evaluate the relationship between variables and determine if there is a positive correlation, a negative correlation, or no correlation. Very important to note is that a positive correlation does not mean that one thing causes another! These types of studies are often used in observational studies or surveys.

Cross-sectional Study: This type of study collects data at a single point in time but the questions asked of the participant may be about current and past experiences. These are often used to evaluate some aspect of public health policy.

Epidemiological Study: These studies evaluate the factors and associates linked to diseases. They can be case series studies, case control studies, cohort studies, longitudinal studies, and outbreak investigations. 

Experimental Study: Specific treatments are applied to a sample of group and the results are observed.

Longitudinal Study: This study follows participants over a long period of time asking a specific research question with repeated samples of data gathered across the duration of the study. These studies are often used as the basis for specific experimental studies.

Meta-analysis: This is a statistical process in which the results of multiple studies evaluating a similar research objective are collected and pooled together. They are often used to determine the effectiveness of healthcare interventions and experiments.