Table 1 Classification schema of epidemiological study designs and their respective attributes
Study design | Lower level study designs | Attributes |
|---|---|---|
Observational | Descriptive, cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, ecological, quasi-experimental, case report, mendelian randomisation, survey | Quantitative, qualitative, prospective, retrospective, longitudinal, nested, propensity matched, before after, time series, interrupted time series, serial, secondary, survival, case series, exploratory, follow up, comparison, population based, synthetic-control, difference in differences, natural experiment |
Trial | Individually randomised, cluster randomised, non-randomised, controlled, non-controlled, | Non-blinded, single blind, double blind, triple blind, phase 1, phase 2, phase 3, phase 4, two arm, multi arm, regulatory, efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, non-inferiority, superiority, equivalence, pilot, feasibility |
Review | Systematic, scoping, meta-analytic, investigation | - |
Meta-analysis | Quantitative, qualitative | Comparison |
Miscellaneous | - | - |