title: Made to Measure: Designs Tailored to Your Study Needs.
abstract: What is the best study design? Why would we prefer one to another? With many different designs, what should we be looking for in our critical reading of the literature? We discuss a variety of designs, and their appropriate use.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX. Electronic address: dajupite@utmb.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Jupiter
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D017749:Total Quality Management
keywords: case-control study; cohort study; cross-sectional study; meta-analysis; randomized clinical trial; systematic review