My biostatistician friends tell me 'of course' there are small studies that are definitive. That is, there are counter examples to claims made about small studies. DES and clear cell endometrial adenocarcinoma is a classic example... based on 8 cases and 32 controls.
Dean Giustini
http://blogs.ubc.ca/dean/
-----Original Message-----
> Date: Mon Mar 08 09:36:38 PST 2010
> From: "Paul Glasziou" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: do small studies allow for big claims -- need a reference to this
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear Connie
> That's tricky as it seems to be three questions:
> 1. Are small studies enough (predicting the results of large studies)?
> 2. Do short term outcomes predict long term outcomes?
> 3. Are results from one setting generalisability across other settings
> and patients?
> Each of those is a major topic, but a generic start might be John
> Ioannidis essay "Why most published research findings are false." PLoS
> Med. 2005 Aug;2(8):e124. Epub 2005 Aug 30.
> and its reference 36.
> Best wishes
> Paul Glasziou
>
> Connie Schardt wrote:
> > I've got a question from one of our EBM instructors:
> >
> > He's looking for an article/commentary that concludes that one small study
> > in a specific population for a short amount of time is not adequate for
> > making claims that everybody will see these effects over long periods of
> > time.
> >
> > Anyone have a reference for this?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> >
> > Connie
> >
> > Connie Schardt
> > Medical Center Library
> > Duke University
> >
> >
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