Publisher's Synopsis
The purpose of this book is to help readers to use their existing skills and knowledge more effectively.;The book aims to show that in most controversial questions in medicine the essential argument concerns whether the evidence available supports a particular cause and effect relationship. The author demonstrates that by defining the postulated causal relationship, the possible causal and non-causal explanations can be considered in a logical and constructive manner.;The book assumes no preliminary knowledge, but starts from a simple logical base to lead the reader through the types of studies which are relevant: the issues of selection of subjects, bias in observations, influences of other factors and statistical analysis. This produces a question and answer system which gives a practical approach which can be applied to a wider range of clinical and epidemiological issues. To show its application, three papers describing a randomized clinical trial, a prospective cohort study and a retrospective case control study are reproduced, and a critical assessment of each is presented.
