title: Designing research: ex post facto designs.
abstract: The research design is the overall plan or structure of the study. The goal of a good research design is to insure internal validity and answer the question being asked. The only clear rule in selecting a design is that the question dictates the design. Over the next few issues this column will cover types of research designs and their inherent strengths and weaknesses. This article discusses ex post facto research.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giuffre
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D006801:Humans; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*