Category: Library

case study

A case study is a detailed investigation of the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time. It is non-experimental in its design, in that there are no experimental controls, but can be valuable in exploring a new phenomena, observing and describing potential causal relationships, etc.

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expert opinion

Expert opinion, not to be confused with either personal opinion (not part of the evidence hierarchy) or clinical guidelines, is the opinion of a respected authority figure or group obtained through publication or presentation. Expert opinion is not officially sanctioned by an evaluation committee and or based on a formal review of existing research,

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mechanism-based reasoning

Mechanisms are arrangements of parts/features of an observed phenomena that describe a stable relationship between its ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’. Mechanism-based reasoning makes claims about the functional relationship between inputs (e.g., an intervention) and patient-relevant outcomes, based on assumptions made about the mechanisms involved. Such reasoning will involve an inferential chain linking the intervention with a clinical outcome.

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