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Research types

This section of the ME/CFS Research Register beta version provides an overview of research types in the field of ME/CFS. By clicking on one of the items in the list, hierarchy, or visual view below, you will be directed to a separate page with a more detailed description. There you will also find research projects, networks, areas as well as working groups, people, and publications connected with the research type. ​ A description of the current scope of the ME/CFS Research Register (beta) can be found on the starting page (Home). ​
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39 of 39 research types

Search types
Basic research
Description:
Basic medical research (otherwise known as experimental research) includes animal experiments, cell studies, biochemical, genetic and physiological investigations, and studies on the properties of drugs and materials.
Research projects:
50
Publications:
21
Basic research - Applied
Description:
Basic medical research in which animal experiments, cell studies, biochemical, genetic and physiological investigations, drug and material property studies are applied to investigate the effects on a dependent variable.
Research projects:
50
Publications:
21
Basic research - Applied - Animal study
Description:
Applied basic research in which an animal model is used to better understand a condition and to uncover potential implications for the treatment in humans.
Research projects:
4
Publications:
2
Basic research - Applied - Biochemistry
Description:
Applied basic research that explores the metabolic basis of a disease with the aim to understand the chemical processes unfolding within the human body.
Research projects:
20
Publications:
10
Basic research - Applied - Cell study
Description:
Applied basic research that investigates how different cell types develop and how they affect the disease and potential treatments in patients.
Research projects:
31
Publications:
9
Basic research - Applied - Genetics
Description:
Applied basic research that employs genetic engineering methods, including for the determination of genetic variabilities and risk factors.
Research projects:
2
Publications:
1
Basic research - Applied - Material development
Description:
Applied basic research centred around the development and improvement of analytical/diagnostic procedures for the determination of proteins, enzymes, markers or genes.
Research projects:
6
Publications:
1
Basic research - Theoretical
Description:
Basic theoretical research centred on the development and improvement of analytical and biometric procedures, tests, modeling and evaluation strategies.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Basic research - Theoretical - Method development
Description:
Basic theoretical research centred on the development and improvement of analytical procedures, e.g. analytical determination of enzymes, markers or genes, as well as imaging procedures.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Clinical research
Description:
Clinical research includes both interventional (experimental) and observational (non-interventional) studies. Clinical studies should ideally include randomisation and a control group.
Research projects:
32
Publications:
71
Clinical research - Interventional
Description:
Any clinical investigation carried out on human subjects intended to study or demonstrate the clinical or pharmacological effects of medicinal products or to detect adverse reactions.
Research projects:
4
Publications:
5
Clinical research - Interventional - Clinical trial phase I
Description:
Interventional clinical research as first step in drug development used to determine the safety and appropriate dosage of a drug. Subjects are usually healthy volunteers.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Clinical research - Interventional - Clinical trial phase II
Description:
Interventional clinical research that follows successful phase I trials. For drugs or treatments already approved for other diseases, phase II usually follows successful case reports/series.
Research projects:
4
Publications:
5
Clinical research - Interventional - Clinical trial phase III
Description:
Interventional clinical research that follows successful phase II study and includes an increase in the number of enrolled patients. Phase III trials seek to demonstrate the efficacy of an intervention in normal use.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Clinical research - Interventional - Clinical trial phase IV
Description:
Interventional clinical research that follow up after approval. Phase IV trials seek to understand the long-term impact and safety of an intervention.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Clinical research - Observational
Description:
A non-interventional trial is a study in which findings from the treatment of individuals with medicinal products are analysed using epidemiological methods in accordance with the indications for use specified in the marketing authorisation.
Research projects:
28
Publications:
66
Clinical research - Observational - Case report/series
Description:
Observational clinical research that includes retrospective detailed reporting of symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of an individual or a series of individual patients that describes a novel form of diagnosis or treatment.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
17
Clinical research - Observational - Diagnostic study
Description:
Observational clinical research that aims to evaluate the accuracy of a diagnostic test or method in identifying a disease entity. New biomarkers are examined for their diagnostic suitability via the characterisation of patients' disease profiles.
Research projects:
18
Publications:
37
Clinical research - Observational - Prognostic study
Description:
Observational clinical research that aims to evaluate a biomarker or diagnostic method with regards to its ability to predict the propability of remission or worsening of a condition. Patients are observed either spontaneously over time or during therapy.
Research projects:
4
Publications:
2
Clinical research - Observational - Therapy study
Description:
Observational clinical research in which patients are observed while a treatment is applied. In contrast to interventional clinical trials, the therapy regimen is adapted to the individual needs of the patient and does not follow a strict protocol.
Research projects:
6
Publications:
13
Epidemiological research
Description:
Epidemiological research is mostly centred around the distribution and temporal changes in the frequency of diseases and their causes. Analogous to clinical research, epidemiology also distinguishes between interventional and observational studies.
Research projects:
39
Publications:
49
Epidemiological research - Interventional
Description:
In epidemiology, interventional studies are experimental in nature and are subdivided into field studies (sample from an area) and group studies (sample from a specific group).
Research projects:
7
Publications:
2
Epidemiological research - Interventional - Field/group study
Description:
Interventional epidemiological research based on field studies of a population in one location, or group studies covering specific individuals in a given population, e.g. a specific age group or patients with a certain disease.
Research projects:
7
Publications:
2
Epidemiological research - Observational
Description:
Observational epidemiological studies can be subdivided into cohort studies, case control studies, cross-sectional studies, and ecological studies.
Research projects:
32
Publications:
47
Epidemiological research - Observational - Case control study
Description:
Observational epidemiological research in which a group of individuals with disease is compared to individuals without disease in order to explore how health outcomes differ between both groups.
Research projects:
5
Publications:
19
Epidemiological research - Observational - Cohort study
Description:
Observational epidemiological research in which a group of people/patients is recruited to explore their health in relation to specific variables.
Research projects:
23
Publications:
26
Epidemiological research - Observational - Cross-sectional study
Description:
Observational epidemiological research applied to explore the occurrence of disease within a given population with the aim to determine the prelevance of the disease, representing a snapshot.
Research projects:
1
Publications:
0
Epidemiological research - Observational - Description with registry data
Description:
Observational epidemiological research in which registries collect data on the number of cases of a specific disease in time intervals. It is used to examine the occurrence of a disease and its change over time.
Research projects:
3
Publications:
2
Epidemiological research - Observational - Ecological study
Description:
Observational epidemiological research that examines one or more risk factors in an area and relates these to the incidence of disease in the population group in this area. It does not examine individuals, but uses data collected from the area or the population group.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Epidemiological research - Observational - Monitoring/surveillance
Description:
Observational epidemiological research based on a systematic and continual oberservation of population health with the objective to obtain regular recording of information.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Secondary research
Description:
Secondary research summarises existing study results in the form of reviews and meta-analyses. It also includes medical guidelines, hypothesis articles and opinion pieces.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
47
Secondary research - Meta Analysis
Description:
In secondary research, meta-analyses of published data are performed to calculate additional pooled effect estimates from the individual studies.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Secondary research - Meta Analysis - Systematic
Description:
Secondary research that provides a meta analysis based on statistical procedure, combining the results of several studies on the same question and calculating a more meaningful result.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
0
Secondary research - Review
Description:
In secondary research, a review is the qualitative summary of the results of individual studies. A distinction is made between narrative reviews and systematic reviews, amongst others.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
47
Secondary research - Review - Guideline
Description:
Secondary research consisting of scientifically sound, practical recommendations, representing the evidence-based state of the art of a scientific field.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
5
Secondary research - Review - Hypothesis
Description:
Secondary research centred around a hypothesis article presents an idea that proposes a tentative explanation about a phenomenon or a narrow set of phenomena observed in science or medicine.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
8
Secondary research - Review - Narrative
Description:
In secondary research, narrative reviews mostly provide a broad overview of a specific topic. However, the articles to be included are selected subjectively and unsystematically.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
18
Secondary research - Review - Opinion
Description:
Secondary research that includes personal and original perspectives on a topic of interest to the general medical community. The aim is to stimulate debate or new research.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
11
Secondary research - Review - Systematic
Description:
In secondary research, systematic literature reviews provide an overview of the state of research on a given topic and enable an assessment of the quality of individual studies.
Research projects:
0
Publications:
6