You want to conduct a CAM study but don't know how?  Problem solved - Clinical Research demonstrates all aspects of state-of-the-art study design in an understandable and practical way. You will get a comprehensive overview and instruction - step by step.

This practical training book:

• systematically introduces the key aspects of study design and basic statistics.
• helps you to develop, plan and execute your research project.
• combines established theoretical approaches with practical skills applicable to your own clinical study.
• is a step-by-step tutorial for a complete clinical study, which is illustrated in three case studies.
• includes additional training exercises, featuring different study conditions and environments, that will help you to practice and test your knowledge.

Clinical Research in Complementary and Integrative Medicine - the best way to understand clinical research and to plan and perform your own study!

1;Front Cover;1 2;Clinical Research in Complementary and Integrative Medicine;4 3;Copyright;5 4;Preface;6 5;We would like to thank;7 6;Glossary;8 7;Contents;12 8;KAPITEL 1 - Introduction;16 8.1;1.1 What do we mean by complementary medicine in this book?;16 8.2;1.2 The science behind clinical medicine;17 8.3;1.3 Why do we need research on complementary therapies?;18 8.4;1.4 Is research into complementary therapies special?;20 8.5;1.5 Aims, target audience and structure of this book;22 9;I - Theory - Things you should know before embarking on a clinical study;24 9.1;KAPITEL 2 - Basic study design;26 9.1.1;2.1 When is a treatment effective?;26 9.1.2;2.2 Bias - threats to internal validity;30 9.1.3;2.3 Clinical studies and the real world - external validity;33 9.1.4;2.4 What study design for what purpose?;37 9.1.5;2.5 Establishing an evidence picture;46 9.2;KAPITEL 3 - Basic statistics;48 9.2.1;3.1 Why statistics?;48 9.2.2;3.2 Types of variables and their distribution;48 9.2.3;3.3 Summarizing your data;49 9.2.4;3.4 Comparing two groups or two time points for one variable;53 9.2.5;3.5 Comparing more than two groups for one variable;59 9.2.6;3.6 Comparing two or more groups for more than one variable;60 9.2.7;3.7 Analysis populations;61 9.2.8;3.8 Dealing with missing values;61 9.2.9;3.9 Interval hypotheses: equivalence/non-inferiority and superiority;62 10;II - Practice - Planning, managing, analyzing and publishing a clinical study;64 10.1;KAPITEL 4 - Planning;66 10.1.1;4.1 Formulating the research question;66 10.1.2;4.2 Study Protocol;71 10.1.3;4.3 Interventions and Controls;74 10.1.4;4.4 Randomization;80 10.1.5;4.5 What to do if you do not randomize;86 10.1.6;4.6 Blinding;89 10.1.7;4.7 Study participants;96 10.1.8;4.8 Outcome measurement;100 10.1.9;4.9 Sample size calculation;108 10.1.10;4.10 Ethics and regulatory aspects;117 10.2;KAPITEL 5 - Study and data management;120 10.2.1;5.1 Project management;120 10.2.2;5.2 Guidelines for clinical trials;121 10.2.3;5.3 Study management;122 10.2.4;5.4 Data management;128 10.2.5;5.5 Case studies;136 10.3;KAPITEL 6 - Data analysis;138 10.3.1;6.1 Analysing your own data step by step;138 10.3.2;6.2 Case studies;142 10.4;KAPITEL 7 - Publication;148 10.4.1;7.1 General issues;148 10.4.2;7.2 Early preparatory work;149 10.4.3;7.3 Writing the manuscript;152 10.4.4;7.4 Getting your manuscript accepted;156 10.4.5;7.5 After acceptance;159 11;III - Putting a clinical study into context;160 11.1;KAPITEL 8 - Qualitative research;162 11.1.1;8.1 Research question and examples;162 11.1.2;8.2 Qualitative approaches;163 11.1.3;8.3 Qualitative methods and types of data;164 11.1.4;8.4 Qualitative data analysis;165 11.1.5;8.5 Quality assurance in qualitative research;166 11.1.6;8.6 Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods;166 11.2;KAPITEL 9 - Economic studies;168 11.2.1;9.1 Principles of economic analysis;168 11.2.2;9.2 Types of economic evaluations;171 11.2.3;9.3 Examples of economic analysis;173 11.2.4;9.4 Critical appraisal;174 11.3;KAPITEL 10 - Single-case research ;178 11.3.1;10.1 Why case reports are not scientific;178 11.3.2;10.2 Why single-case research is important;178 11.3.3;10.3 Assessing causality in single cases;179 11.3.4;10.4 Experimental single-case studies;179 11.3.5;10.5 Observational single case studies;183 11.3.6;10.6 Cross-roads between research on single cases and groups of patients;184 11.4;KAPITEL 11 - A brief look at other study designs;188 11.4.1;11.1 Cross-sectional studies/surveys;188 11.4.2;11.2 Diagnostic studies;190 11.4.3;11.3 Etiological and prognostic studies;192 12;Appendix;196 13;Index;202