For information on study design
- For an introduction to various study designs and what type of research questions they can address, please see a BMJ article series: How to read a paper
- NIHR’s Clinical trials tool kit provides practical advice to researchers in designing and conducting publicly funded clinical trials in the UK
- MRC Complex interventions guidance provides advice on the development, evaluation and implementation of complex interventions
- NICE Behaviour change: general approaches (2007) provides a set of generic principles that can be used for planning, delivering and evaluating behaviour change interventions.
- MRC published guidance on Using natural experiments to evaluate population health interventions for producers and users of evidence provides guidance on how and when ‘natural experiments’ can be used to good effect. See their website for more information.
For an introduction to qualitative research:
For an introduction on how to synthesis qualitative and quantitative evidence:
- Synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence: a review of possible methods, SAGE Journals, 2005
For an introduction on how to design a pilot study:
- Design and analysis of pilot studies: recommendations for good practice. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, Wiley Online Library, 2004
To understand the difference between a pilot and a feasibility study:
- What is a pilot or feasibility study? A review of current practice and editorial policy, BMC Medical Research Methodology, 2010
For guidance on evaluating surgical innovations, see the IDEAL framework:
- IDEAL framework for surgical innovation 1: the idea and development stages, The BMJ, 2013
- IDEAL framework for surgical innovation 2: observational studies in the exploration and assessment stages, The BMJ, 2013
- IDEAL framework for surgical innovation 3: randomised controlled trials in the assessment stage and evaluations in the long-term study stage, The BMJ, 2013.
