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Oct 18, 2024 · The results indicated a statistically significant difference in the mean test scores across the three methods. Post-hoc testing revealed that the difference between A and B, as well as between A and C, were not statistically significant. However, method C resulted in significantly lower scores when compared to B. Summary
Feb 14, 2022 · Pearson’s correlation coefficient test was performed to assess the correlation of serum MIF with disease duration and patient age. A two-tailed paired Student’s t-test or the Mann–Whitney U test was performed to analyze differences between the study groups. Kaplan–Meier plots were generated using GraphPad Prism version 7.0 to quantify ...
- 10.3389/fcimb.2021.781476
- 2021
- 1 Introduction#Section-15-1
- 2 Issues of Indirectness and Applicability#Section-15-2
- 3 Interpreting Results of Statistical Analyses#Section-15-3
The purpose of Cochrane Reviews is to facilitate healthcare decisions by patients and the general public, clinicians, guideline developers, administrators and policy makers. They also inform future research. A clear statement of findings, a considered discussion and a clear presentation of the authors’ conclusions are, therefore, important parts of...
15.2.1 The role of the review author#section-15-2-1
“A leap of faith is always required when applying any study findings to the population at large” or to a specific person. “In making that jump, one must always strike a balance between making justifiable broad generalizations and being too conservative in one’s conclusions” (Friedman et al 1985). In addition to issues about risk of bias and other domains determining the certainty of evidence, this leap of faith is related to how well the identified body of evidence matches the posed PICO (Pop...
15.2.2 Biological variation#section-15-2-2
Issues of biological variation that may affect the applicability of a result to a reader or population include divergence in pathophysiology (e.g. biological differences between women and men that may affect responsiveness to an intervention) and divergence in a causative agent (e.g. for infectious diseases such as malaria, which may be caused by several different parasites). The discussion of the results in the review should make clear whether the included studies addressed all or only some...
15.2.3 Variation in context #section-15-2-3
Some interventions, particularly non-pharmacological interventions, may work in some contexts but not in others; the situation has been described as program by context interaction (Hawe et al 2004). Contextual factors might pertain to the host organization in which an intervention is offered, such as the expertise, experience and morale of the staff expected to carry out the intervention, the competing priorities for the clinician’s or staff’s attention, the local resources such as service an...
15.3.1 Confidence intervals#section-15-3-1
Results for both individual studies and meta-analyses are reported with a point estimate together with an associated confidence interval. For example, ‘The odds ratio was 0.75 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.70 to 0.80’. The point estimate (0.75) is the best estimate of the magnitude and direction of the experimental intervention’s effect compared with the comparator intervention. The confidence interval describes the uncertainty inherent in any estimate, and describes a range of values w...
15.3.2 P values and statistical significance#section-15-3-2
A P value is the standard result of a statistical test, and is the probability of obtaining the observed effect (or larger) under a ‘null hypothesis’. In the context of Cochrane Reviews there are two commonly used statistical tests. The first is a test of overall effect (a Z-test), and its null hypothesis is that there is no overall effect of the experimental intervention compared with the comparator on the outcome of interest. The second is the (Chi2) test for heterogeneity, and its null hyp...
15.3.3 Relation between confidence intervals, statistical significance and certainty of evidence#section-15-3-3
The confidence interval (and imprecision) is only one domain that influences overall uncertainty about effect estimates. Uncertainty resulting from imprecision (i.e. statistical uncertainty) may be no less important than uncertainty from indirectness, or any other GRADE domain, in the context of decision making (Schünemann 2016). Thus, the extent to which interpretations of the confidence interval described in Sections 15.3.1 and 15.3.2 correspond to conclusions about overall certainty of the...
An Introduction to Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)is an essential human pleiotropic protein that
Controversies surrounding hypothesis testing. Although hypothesis tests have been the basis of modern science since the middle of the 20th century, they have been plagued by misconceptions from the outset; this has led to what has been described as a crisis in science in the last few years: some journals have gone so far as to ban p-values outright. 6 This is not because of any flaw in the ...
Keywords: Epidemiologic methods, research design, research methodology. INTRODUCTION. Research study design is a framework, or the set of methods and procedures used to collect and analyze data on variables specified in a particular research problem. Research study designs are of many types, each with its advantages and limitations.
Jul 17, 2023 · All good research is based on a meticulous and well-designed question in the form of a hypothesis. To test this hypothesis, one must conduct an experiment with strict guidelines to obtain robust results. The results are then tested using statistics to examine its significance and conclude if a new treatment/ diagnostic modalities/biomarker is a better alternative to prevalent practice. Thus ...
