Читать книгу How to Succeed in Medical Research - Robert Foley Andrew - Страница 9

There are a number of different areas of research within medicine. Broadly, there is pre‐clinical research, which takes place in the laboratory, and clinical research, which takes place in a clinical setting such as a hospital. Clinical research will be the main focus of this book, and it is the easier branch to become involved in, especially if one is already working in the healthcare setting. We will also discuss pre‐clinical research at various points throughout the course of the book.

Another important concept is the hierarchy of research (Figure 1.1). This hierarchy establishes what types of research publications are the most trustworthy and assigns each type a level of evidence. This is often represented as a pyramid and has evolved over the past few decades, guided by the principles of having the weakest study designs at the bottom and the most robust study designs at the top.