18 designs Study types These are the study types this app asks you to classify a project under. Each answers a different kind of question, and none is better in isolation. The right question is whether the design fits what the researchers were trying to find out. Pick one to read it in full.
All Reviews Experiments Observational People's views Writing projects
Reviews A structured, reproducible synthesis of every study that meets a defined criteria. Read the full guide → Reviews Statistically pools the numeric results of multiple studies into one combined estimate. Read the full guide → Experiments Participants are randomly assigned to an intervention or a control/placebo group. Read the full guide → Observational Researchers look back at existing records to compare outcomes between exposed and unexposed groups. Read the full guide → Observational A detailed account of a single patient (or a small case series of a few patients). Read the full guide → Reviews A written overview of what is known about a topic, organised by theme. Read the full guide → Reviews Maps the range of evidence on a broad topic, without judging how strong each study is. Read the full guide → Observational Measures things in a group of people at one point in time. Read the full guide → Observational Compares people who have an outcome with similar people who don't, looking back at past exposures. Read the full guide → Observational Follows a group forward in time to see who develops an outcome. Read the full guide → Experiments Tests whether a change made a difference, without randomly assigning people. Read the full guide → People's views Explores people's experiences and views in their own words. Read the full guide → People's views Combines numbers and words in one study. Read the full guide → Experiments Tests a hypothesis by changing something under controlled conditions. Read the full guide → Experiments Uses models, simulation or algorithms to answer a research question. Read the full guide → People's views An in-depth look at one organisation, event or setting. Read the full guide → Writing projects A long piece of research that usually combines several parts into one argument. Read the full guide → Writing projects A plan for a study, written before the research is done. Read the full guide →