Observational Research, Randomised Trials, and Two Views of Medical Science

2008/03/06 by Jan P. Vandenbroucke · 5 citations
Decision Sciences · Mathematics · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Medicine · #Meta-analysis and systematic reviews #Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials #Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life #Observational study #Medicine #Alternative medicine #Medical research #MEDLINE #Family medicine #Clinical trial #Randomized controlled trial #Internal medicine #Pathology #Biology

paper · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050067

openalex publication_date 2008/03/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03

Abstract

Two views exist of medical science, says the author, one emphasizing discovery and explanation, the other emphasizing evaluation of interventions.

Citations

• Smoking and Lung Cancer: Recent Evidence and a Discussion of Some Questions
• Allocation concealment in randomised trials: defending against deciphering
• No Adjustments Are Needed for Multiple Comparisons
• When are randomised trials unnecessary? Picking signal from noise
• Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung

Cited by

• Meta-analyses of Adverse Effects Data Derived from Randomised Controlled Trials as Compared to Observational Studies: Methodological Overview
• Down with the Hierarchies
• Studying the effects of intervention programmes on household energy saving behaviours using graphical causal models
• The False-positive to False-negative Ratio in Epidemiologic Studies
• Randomized controlled trial [wikipedia]

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• Methods in Immunology and Immunochemistry: Volume 1, Preparation of Antigens and Antibodies
• Scientism recognizes evidence only of the quantitative/general variety
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• Core concepts in statistics and research methods. Part 2: clinical research principles and observational studies