Designing and Conducting Observational Studies with Thomas Newman, MD, MPH

About this episode

Dr. Thomas Newman discusses the importance of study design in clinical research, particularly focusing on observational studies and their challenges.

What separates strong clinical research from misleading conclusions? Often, it comes down to study design. In this episode of the Clinical Trial Podcast, Kunal Sampat sits down with Dr. Thomas Newman, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and co-author of Designing Clinical Research, to break down how observational studies actually work. While randomized controlled trials are often considered the gold standard, observational studies are essential in many real-world settings. But they come with challenges including bias, confounding, and misinterpretation that can lead to flawed conclusions if not handled correctly. Dr. Newman shares a practical framework to help you design better studies, interpret results more critically, and build a stronger foundation in clinical research. In this episode, you'll learn: When observational studies are more appropriate than randomized trials A practical framework for designing observational research Key threats to validity: bias, confounding, and chance How to interpret associations vs. causal effects Strategies for dealing with confounders in analysis How to approach statistics with more clarity and confidence About the guest: Dr…

People in this episode

Host: Kunal Sampat

Guest: Thomas Newman Md Mph

Topics covered

• clinical research
• observational studies
• study design
• epidemiology
• biostatistics

Keywords

• randomized controlled trials
• bias
• confounding
• causal effects
• statistics

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Designing Clinical Research

Books & works: Designing and Conducting Observational Studies, Designing Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Diagnosis

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