Renate Weller

Renate is currently dean and professor at the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Calgary. A veterinarian by profession and passion she has worked as a mixed animal practitioner and horse vet in several different countries in ambulatory and referral settings. Previously she has been employed as Professor of Imaging and Biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College in London where she has split her time between clinical work, research and teaching. Her clinical and research focus is on maximising injury prevention while optimising performance in animal athletes from beginners to Olympic level. She is a diplomate of the European and American College in Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, holds a PhD in biomechanics and a Masters in Veterinary Education. Renate has been inducted in the International Hall of Fame of Equine Veterinarians, is an Honorary Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Farriers and has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for her contribution to teaching and learning. In her spare time she likes to look after her donkey and ponies, walk her rather stubborn Corgi, play table tennis and bake cakes.

Study Design

Renate Weller, University of Calgary

To ensure the success of a study it is advisable to come up with a solid plan following a systematic approach. I would like to suggest the below 5 steps.

 

Step 1: Come up with a viable question

Make sure the question excites you and is answerable within your resource frame.

 

Step 2: What has already been done in this area? What is already known?

No point in answering the same question unless you have serious concerns about the validity of your answer. Scan the literature!

 

Step 3: Formulate aim, objectives and hypotheses

• Aim: this is the overarching, often long-term aim
• Objectives: follow the SMART principle: specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable, timely
• Hypothesis: speculate on what the outcome will be based on existing literature and/or your experience.

 

Step 4 Study design

Choose the study design that matches your question, aim, objectives and hypotheses. And think stats already!

There is a hierarchy of evidence in terms of validity of studies with case reports at the bottom and metanalysis at the top. The below table gives some general advice on which study type matches the different question types:

 

Question type	Best study type
Diagnosis, method evaluation	Prospective, blind comparison to gold standard
Therapy, Etiology, Prevention	RCT > cohort > case-control > case series > case report
Prognosis	Cohort > case-control > case series > case report
Normal reference	Cohort > individual

 

Step 5 Practicalities and logistics

• Material: animals), cadavers, data. Calculate sample size!
• What skills, equipment, consumables are needed? Costs and access!
• Ethical considerations: Follow the 3R principle of animal use: replacement, reduction and refinement.
• Come up with a money and time budget: list everything you need