The cross-sectional study design is sometimes avoided by researchers or considered an
undesired methodology. Possible reasons include incomplete understanding of the …

Although randomized controlled trials provide the highest level of evidence for causation,
many clinical issues cannot be addressed using experimental study design. Examples that …

Observational databases are often used to study causal questions. Before being granted
access to data or funding, researchers may need to prove that “the statistical power of their …

Prospective and retrospective cohorts and case-control studies are some of the most
important study designs in epidemiology because, under certain assumptions, they can …

The majority of research within reproductive and gynecologic health, or investigating ART, is
observational in design. One of the most critical challenges for observational studies is …

The causal inference framework and related methods have emerged as vital within
epidemiology. Scientists in many fields have found that this framework and a variety of …

Systematic reviews and meta‐analyses are essential for drawing conclusions regarding
etiologic associations between exposures or interventions and health outcomes …

▪ Abstract Consideration of confounding is fundamental to the design, analysis, and
interpretation of studies intended to estimate causal effects. Unfortunately, the word …

Two recent articles, one by Vandenbroucke, Broadbent and Pearce (henceforth VBP) 1 and
the other by Krieger and Davey Smith (henceforth KDS), 2 criticize what these two sets of …

I present an overview of two methods controversies that are central to analysis and
inference: That surrounding causal modeling as reflected in the “causal inference” …