Single studies

Single studies

1. Apart from rare exceptions, no study (regardless of the study design used) should ever be interpreted in isolation.

   • One study does not provide enough evidence on which to base a change in say, our clinical practice.
     • should always consider a range of studies of the same or different designs to help us draw conclusions about the research question of interest.

2. If you can only find one published RCT that addresses the research question of interest,

   • you would be unwise to base a change in clinical practice or policy on this one study, however powerful it might be in terms of its methodology.

3. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses

   • provide us with the best available evidence.
     • because the strength of this type of research is based on many studies performed by different research teams that potentially include a range of participants and methodologies.
       • Systematic reviews
         • identify differences in factors like participants and methodologies across studies and demonstrate how these factors influence results.
   • Systematic reviews are not limited to quantitative study designs
     • rather, qualitative research designs can also be incorporated to answer the research question of interest.

4. Systematic reviews

   • take into account a body of evidence
     • Conclusions are therefore based on what the majority of findings suggest
       • rather than relying on one or two specific pieces of research.
   • In addition, if we conduct a systematic review of case studies for the research question of interest
     • we can generate high-quality evidence.

5. Although case studies, for example, are a less than perfect source of evidence,

   • they are important in alerting us to potential or rare diseases and harms or benefits of particular interventions or treatments.