Statisticians use data from a variety of sources:

observation data and experimental data

Observation data
•Cross –sectional Studies
•Retrospective Studies
•Prospective Studies

Experimental data
•Planned experiment Studies
•Clinical trial Studies
•Quality Control Studies
•Epidemiological Studies
SURVEYS & CROSS-SECTIONAL

Cross-sectional studies (also known as Cross-sectional analysis) - form

a class of research methods that involve observation of all of a
population, or a representative subset, at a defined time. They are often
used to assess the prevalence of acute or chronic conditions, or to answer
questions about the causes of disease or the results of medical
intervention. Cross-sectional studies may involve special data collection,
including questions about the past, but they often rely on data originally
collected for other purposes.

Is reference about a single point in time – now.

Typically involve descriptive statistics.

For example, researchers who want to know about the present health
characteristics of a population might administer a survey to answer the
following kind of questions: How many students smoke at a college
campus? Do men and women differ in their current level of smoking?
 Retrospective Studies
 A retrospective study (case-control study) looks backwards and
examines exposures to suspected risk or protection factors in
relation to an outcome that is established at the start of the
study. Most sources of error due to confounding and bias are
more common in retrospective studies than in prospective
studies.
 For example, patients who have a disease the researchers are
asked about their prior exposure to a hypothesized risk factor for
the disease. This patients represent the case data that are
matched to patients without the disease but with similar
demographic characteristics.
 You should take special care to avoid sources of bias
and confounding in retrospective studies.
 Prospective Studies

A prospective study (cohort studies) watches for

outcomes, such as the development of a disease, during the
study period and relates this to other factors such as
suspected risk or protection factor(s).
Follow subjects from the present into the future.
For example, researchers follows a group of young
persons who are initiating smoking and who are free from
tobacco-related disease.
Prospective studies usually have fewer potential sources
of bias and confounding than retrospective studies.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
 An experimental study involves taking measurements of the
system under study, manipulating the system, and then taking
additional measurements using the same procedure to
determine if the manipulation has modified the values of the
measurements.
 Is one in which there is a study group and control group as well
as an independent (causal) variable and a dependent (outcome)
variable.
 The investigator manipulates the causal variable and observes
its influence upon the outcome variable.
 Are used in product quality control.
QUALITY CONTROL
 Is important in engineering and manufacturing, and also in
health science
 For example; Companies produce catheters that can be used for
ablation of arrhythmias and diagnosis of heart ailments and also
experimentally for injection of drugs to improve the
cardiovascular system of a patient.
 Procedures are necessary to ensure that the manufacturing
process continues to work properly.
 CLINICAL TRIALS
 an experiment performed by a health care organization or
professional to evaluate the effect of an intervention or
treatment against a control in a clinical environment.
Is designed to maintain health, prevent diseases, or treat
diseased subjects.
Are used extensively today by investigators seeking to
determine the effectiveness of newly proposed drugs, such
as cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Epidemiological research has become an important tool in

the study of the aetiology and natural history of infectious
and non-infectious diseases, and in assessing health effects
in populations.
As the study of the distribution and determinants of health
and disease in populations.
 GROUP ACTIVITY 2
Search a Research article
Present the method use in the study.
Present the type of studies utilized in the article.