Timeline for What type of study is this?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 5, 2013 at 17:50 | comment | added | Ellie | The entire world could theoretically be the source population but your study would need to have in some way sampled a group of individuals that truly represented the entire world. This is highly unlikely in practice. The term 'study population' is not well-defined - I would stick with 'study sample' and 'source population'. 'Study population' is something of a contradiction unless you could enroll every single member of your population into your study. The 'study sample' can refer to all people recruited, or the final set of individuals analyzed. The former is preferable, to me. | |
| Jun 5, 2013 at 17:43 | comment | added | ross | So it is possible for the population of the entire world to be a source population? I guess the cohort is a sample AND the study population? Or is the study population the "final" sample after removing other people due to missing data, etc.? | |
| Jun 5, 2013 at 16:52 | comment | added | Ellie | It depends on how you think ADHD will varies over time/place and on what you are trying to study. It could be everyone born in 1985, or everyone born in 1985 in a specific place where you selected the cohort. Or it could be everyone born between 1980-90, if you think that 1985 is representative of an entire decade in terms of risk of ADHD diagnosis. The source population is that population about which you are trying to make some inference. The cohort is your sample. Whether or not the sample actually reflects the experience of your source population determines the validity of your conclusions. | |
| Jun 5, 2013 at 16:29 | comment | added | ross | Thanks. Also what is the definition of source population? For example, in this example, would everyone born in 1985 be the source population? | |
| Jun 5, 2013 at 16:23 | history | answered | Ellie | CC BY-SA 3.0 |