Brief Guidelines for Methods and Statistics in Medical Research

Abstract

Research requires sound methodology. It begins by properly identify good research topic, intensive background literatures and clear concept. Objectives are written with SMART criteria. Relevant variables are identified, defined and planned on how they are to be collected in standard manner. Statistical analyses

should then be planned in great detail.

Keywords Research methodology Research design Sampling Sample size

Data collection Validity and reliability Quality of data What is research? Literally research means a careful or diligent search; systematic inquiries, investigations or experimentations to discover or to prove theories. In medicine, research is initiated to measure magnitude of diseases, maybe in population or institution; or even among a specific group of  people. Research is also conducted to prove how good the new drugs, methods or any invention when compared to the existing ones. Research helps policy makers to design and plan strategies based on best available evidence.

The most important requirement to start a research is to know why we would like to conduct one. We may do research to:

• decide the best treatment for patient,

• measure prevalence of a disease in the community,

• determine risk factors for common health problem,

• describe health seeking behaviour in a population,

• prove that the new drug is better than the old one; or for many other reasons.