Essential concepts in clinical research: randomised controlled trials and observational epidemiology

Introduction. An overview of clinical research: the lay of the land -- Observational studies. Descriptive studies: what they can and cannot do -- Bias and causal associations in observational research -- Cohort studies: marching towards outcomes -- Case-control studies: research in reverse -- Finding controls for case-control studies: compared to what? -- Limitations of observational epidemiology -- Screening tests. Uses and abuses of screening tests -- Refining clinical diagnosis with likelihood ratios -- Randomized controlled trials. Boosting participant recruitment in trials -- Sample size calculations in randomized trials: mandatory and mystical -- Generation of allocation sequences in randomized trials: chance not choice -- Generation of allocation sequences in non-double-blinded randomized trials: guarding against guessing -- Allocation concealment in randomized trials: defending against deciphering -- Exclusions and losses in randomized trials: sample size slippages -- Blinding in randomized trials: hiding who got what -- Implementing treatment blinding in randomized trials -- Surrogate endpoints and composite outcomes: shortcuts to unknown destinations -- Multiplicity in randomized trials I: endpoints and treatments -- Multiplicity in randomized trials II: subgroup and interim analyses -- Conducting randomized trials as part of a prospective meta-analysis -- Publishing. Reporting studies in medical journals: CONSORT and other guidelines."