A Concise Guide to Medical Research

This book is a concise, beginner's introduction to medical research written for biomedical researchers, medical students, young faculty and clinicians who would like a readable guide to the research process, in particular the medical and biomedical research process. In medical research, where treatments for illness and disease are developed for the human population, a variety of genetic backgrounds, diets and lifestyles often limit the ability of researchers to control extraneous sources of variation and clearly observe treatment effects. Probability based statistical models are often used to control for these secondary variables after the experiment has ended. The chapters of this book provide guidance in many aspects in the process of doing medical research. From defining a useful idea and developing a proof-of-concept pilot study, to formally testing a new treatment, this book provides an overview of how to develop and carry out a basic research project, analyze and report the data. Throughout, the importance of planning, support structure and research ethics is emphasized and several basic examples are used to motivate the discussion. Key Features: Easy to read with examples Easy to understand Provides a simple outline that can be followed in many practical settings Provides a simple guide to basic statistics useful in medicine Provides a pathway into medical research