Lab 10: Evaluating Clinical Trials

Lab 10: Evaluating Clinical Trials

Warm Up: Before you would participate in a clinical trial what kinds of things would you want to know about the clinical trial?

Vocabulary:
1. control – the object that does not get changed in an experiment
2. data – information about an object
3. evidence – pieces of information gathered in an experiment
4. hypothesis – a scientific prediction based off of previous knowledge of a subject
5. qualitative – properties or characteristics that are used to identify things
6. quantitative – values that have been measured or counted
7. reproducible – an item that can be created again exactly the way the item was originally
8. sample size – the amount of people that an item is tested on
9. trade-offs – is something given up in selecting one alternative over another
10. variables – the one thing that is changing in an experiment

Elements of Good Experimental Design
- experiment builds on previous research
- experiment describes all steps in procedure clearly and completely
- experiment describes all data to be collected
- experiment keeps all variables, except the one being tested, the same
- experiment includes a control
- experiment has a large sample size
- experiment has enough trials
- experiment can be reproduced by other scientists
- experiment respects human and animal subjects

Reviewer Comments:
1. Name of the Study (skip 1 line)

2. What factors of good experimental design does the study include? (skip 4 lines)

3. What factors of good experimental design does the study not include? (skip 4 lines)

4. Describe any other comments you have about this study: For example, are you satisfied with the quality of background research? Do you think that this area of research is important? Do you have any ethical concerns? (skip 4 lines)

5.Based on the comments you wrote above, would you fund this study as it is currently written? Why? (skip 4 lines)

Analysis/Conclusion:
1. Which study 1through 4 had the best experimental design? Explain.

2.Discuss your funding recommendations with your group. Do you agree on which studies, if any, should be funded? What other concerns do you have?

3.You find out that NIH has only enough money to fund one study and plans to fund the best one. Explain which study you would fund. Support your answer with evidence and identify the trade-offs of your decision. (To write a complete answer, first state your opinion. Provide two or more pieces of evidence that support your opinion. Then consider all sides of the issue and identify the trade-offs of your decision.)

4.Choose one of the studies. Review your comments about its experimental design and think about how the study could be improved. Rewrite the study to include your recommendation for improving the quality of the experiment.