Session 3 · Design: choosing the right study
Week 3 · Saturday · online, 19:30–22:30 (3 hours, 15-minute break)
Date: 14/11/2026
Agenda
- Recap quiz on Session 2 (10 min)
- 3.1 Study designs in pictures (45 min)
- Whole-class exercise: Name that design (15 min)
- Break (15 min)
- 3.2 More designs: trial variants, pilots, quality improvement, qualitative (30 min)
- Whole-class exercise: choose the design (15 min)
- Proposal builder 3: design, setting and population (45 min), then wrap-up (5 min)
Timetable
| Start | Clock* | Min | Segment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | 19:30 | 10 | Recap quiz |
| 0:10 | 19:40 | 45 | 3.1 Study designs in pictures: descriptive vs analytical, case report/series, cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, RCT, systematic review/meta-analysis, evidence pyramid, decision tree, strengths & weaknesses, what each design can claim |
| 0:55 | 20:25 | 15 | Whole-class exercise: Name that design (6 abstracts on the fluid question; poll + chat) |
| 1:10 | 20:40 | 15 | BREAK |
| 1:25 | 20:55 | 30 | 3.2 More designs: trial variants (parallel, crossover, cluster, factorial; superiority vs non-inferiority), pilot/feasibility, before-after & interrupted time series (QI), qualitative designs; matching design to question |
| 1:55 | 21:25 | 15 | Whole-class exercise: choose the design for 5 questions (poll); each participant then names the design for their own question in the chat |
| 2:10 | 21:40 | 45 | Proposal builder 3: inclusion and exclusion criteria, then modelled live (design + justification, setting, population, inclusion/exclusion); each participant drafts their own (finished as homework); three volunteers share in the chat |
| 2:55 | 22:25 | 5 | Wrap-up |
*Times are relative to the start of the session; the clock column shows Vietnam time for the online 19:30–22:30 session. All exercises are done by the whole class together (no groups). [DS] = course-dataset content (FLUID-ICU analysis and manuscript writing).
Slides
Press F for full screen, S for speaker notes, E to print, Esc for an overview.
Downloads
| Slides (PowerPoint) | English · Tiếng Việt |
| Exercise sheet | Read online · Word · PDF |
| Solutions | Read online · PDF |
Before this session
- Proposal Part 1 finished (question, background, five references, working title).
- The abstract of Paper 2 read.
After this session (homework)
- Your proposal: start Proposal Part 2: design and justification, setting, population.
- Think about which designs could answer your question and what each could claim.