COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STUDY DESIGNS IN HEALTH RESEARCH

A research design is a framework or guiding plan to approach the research subjects for data collection and data analysis to study a research problem. Every Research study design has its inherent strengths weaknesses. It is the situation the objectives that determine the suitability of a research study design for a study and not the absolute superiority of one above the other as a basis to rank different study designs. Choosing an appropriate study design is a crucial step ahead of researcher. Careful thought must be given to the appropriateness of the proposed study design, operational feasibility, information to be obtained, expected duration of the study and expenses