how does each study model work and why are some better than others? Aka Cohort, meta analyse, epidemiological, etc

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how does each study model work and why are some better than others? Aka Cohort, meta analyse, epidemiological, etc

In: Biology

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Asking why one is better than another is like asking why a ruler is better than a measuring cup. Each study model gathers a specific kind of information at the expense of other kinds. A meta-analysis is going to give you a bird’s eye view of your subject by looking only at the clean statistical data gathered by others, but you won’t easily see what variables impact the findings. A case study will give you a very detailed look at your subject in one scenario, and you’ll get great information on potential variables that impact your findings, but you’ll also need to weed out variables specific to the case. A cohort study helps you with the weeding out, but it’s more expensive in time and resources, so you usually need to justify the design with a case study first.