Research can achieve many objectives, primarily by establishing a supportable, verifiable basis for clinical decisions. An evidence-based practice can streamline patient care, improving safety through consistency of care and making health care more affordable for patients. By cultivating research skills, osteopathic physicians and trainees can begin to forge a reciprocal relationship with medical literature and current findings, approaching research as active contributors as well as consumers. Many challenges, however, potentially hinder osteopathic physicians, residents, or medical students who wish to develop research skills. In the present article, the authors summarize research concepts and terminology that will enable novice researchers to interact effectively with more experienced researchers, statisticians, and methodologists.
In this article, the second in a series on the basic concepts of research, the authors review aspects of research design including participant considerations, randomization, reliability and validity of measurements, and data collection and management. The authors also discuss considerations for research using questionnaires and tests. The goal of this article is to assist the novice researcher in identifying potential problems that must be addressed during the design of a research project.
Computed tomographic finding of subcapsular hepatic necrosis is a common finding following liver transplantation, which has little clinical prognostic significance.
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