Research Resources: Study Design
A well-designed study enables the researcher to respond to a research question with accurate, objective, and valid methods. The study design that is chosen should employ the best approach to establishing a causal relationship between the intervention and the measurable outcome(s). In a presentation at the 2004 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, Lee Vermeulen of the University of Wisconsin emphasized that study design. View his presentation, "Using Sound Methodologies."
The Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine provides brief descriptions of advantages and disadvantages of several different study designs.