Designing Clinical Research

by Stephen B. Hulley, Steven R. Cummings, Warren S. Browner

Designing Clinical Research sets the standard for providing a practical guide to planning, tabulating, formulating, and implementing clinical research, with an easy-to-read, uncomplicated presentation. This edition incorporates current research methodology—including molecular and genetic clinical research—and offers an updated syllabus for conducting a clinical research workshop. Emphasis is on common sense as the main ingredient of good science. The book explains how to choose well-focused research questions and details the steps through all the elements of study design, data collection, quality assurance, and basic grant-writing. All chapters have been thoroughly revised, updated, and made more user-friendly.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Research, Textbooks, Medicine, Medical, Reference

367 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was well organized and very easy to read. It reinforced itself well by returning to challenging topics repeatedly with the same diagrams but new elements, so that understanding of the relationship between target population, accessible population, and sample became increasingly clear. I will certainly return to this book as a reference for designing and writing research projects.

[Scott Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Research methods are important to almost all graduate students in the sciences. Design in particular can make or break the funding of a project – not to mention the implementation of the project itself! The stakes are rarely higher than in clinical, biomedical research where large dollars, impactful results, and ethical aspects of live patients are constantly at play. This book, written by a collaboration of highly successful biomedical researchers, teaches how to design research to a newer generation of inquirers.

Topics include developing a research question, planning the measurements, study designs, ethical issues, data management, survey design, community and international studies, and grant proposals. In short, it teaches almost every concept you need to get started in research. Of course, a mentor or a panel of mentors are crucial, but reading this book can take away some of their burden and allow conversations to turn towards more interesting and pressing topics.

Numerous appendices fill the book by appearing after many chapters. These guides help readers to get started with specific issues. Exercises to jump-start activity are at the end. So much of the barrier to research lies in conceptual vocabulary, so a twenty-three-page glossary sits at the end. Of course, knowledge cannot replace a lack of tenacity, but tenacity must still possess knowledge in order to be effective.

The writing is clear, and the diagrams are interesting. Real-world examples from various clinical studies bring the text to life. All but one of the authors have a degree in public health, and the focus on making a difference in patients’ lives is evident from start to finish. Certain sections are apt for review at various stages of the research process and highlight important concepts (and potential missteps) to anticipate successful implementation of the design.

This book is appropriate for researchers. It is not meant for a general audience. However, particularly beginners and particularly graduate students would benefit from these pages. It’s hard to imagine someone starting a career in clinical research without some degree of understanding of the concepts in these pages. Why not read them all in one place here? Opportunities for further exploration can be found in references so that ambitious, curious, and/or over-achieving readers can satisfy their interests.

[Ranya Mohammed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down, it's one of the best books out there on research methods.
The books take you through all the steps of designing clinical research, it divided into chapters, each focusing on a certain step, and they give theoretical backgrounds and examples.

The writing style, wording, and structure of the book are so smooth and easy to digest.
I loved how they break down concepts, and the examples at each chapter are so helpful.
And there are references at the end of each chapter, which is useful if you want to go for a further reading.

Side note: I loved the notion they used to describe research components>> "the anatomy and physiology of research", I think it's smart and creative.


They dive into each step of research design in a detailed way yet concise. So I would say it's for someone who is at an intermediate level or has some background, just not to feel it is overwhelming or intimidating . Anyhow, with that said, I do think it would be perfectly okay for a conplete beginner to read it, though they needs to be flexible and ready to accept the fact that some concepts might seem intimidating initially and obscure and that knowledge and understanding of research concepts is an incremental process.

Also, i recommed breaking it down into manageable pieces and to read each section per need or at the specific step in your research prcess> you are thinking of the best design to your topic then go and read the study designs chapter and so on. That way, you will get the best out of each chapter as it will be "a goal directed reading," allowing you to digest the information.

Lastly, I just want to say that it's easy to fall in live with this piece, haha. At least I DID. And I always keep coming back to it as a refresher.

[Roaya Elgayyar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and well organized with great illustrative examples!

[Kusuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Alina Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introductory manual to Clinical research. covers planning stages, different study designs, and implementation of study protocol.