The role of statisticians in intervention trials.
The planning, conduct, analysis and reporting of randomized trials to reliably evaluate an intervention create a complex intellectual and logistical endeavour. Success generally requires active collaboration of a well-trained, experienced and committed statistician. A good intervention trial asks an important question, gets a reliable answer and is honestly reported. Many trials fail on one of these components and some of these failures could have been avoided with better statistical involvement. Many subject matter investigators do not understand how to effectively collaborate with statisticians. The objective here is to outline some of the important responsibilities of the statistician in intervention trials.
Simon
R
R
National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. rich@brb.nci.nih.gov
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D012107:Research Design; D013223:Statistics as Topic