Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice Flashcards
7 cards from real ABFM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice flashcards as text
A forensic medicine journal rejects a manuscript because the study lacks an a priori sample size calculation. This requirement addresses which research quality concern?
Answer: Adequate statistical power
A priori sample size calculations ensure studies are powered to detect clinically meaningful effects, guarding against underpowered (Type II error-prone) research.
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) established that federal courts should evaluate scientific evidence based on which primary criterion?
Answer: Whether the theory or technique has been tested and can be tested
Daubert requires judges to assess whether scientific methodology is testable and has been tested, among other criteria, serving as a gatekeeping function.
A forensic researcher conducting a chart review study applies for a waiver of informed consent. Which ethical principle primarily justifies this waiver when re-contact is impractical?
Answer: Beneficence — maximizing benefit to future patients through research
Waivers of informed consent in retrospective research are justified when benefits to knowledge (beneficence) outweigh minimal risk and re-contact is truly impractical.
A meta-analysis of gunshot wound trajectory studies pools results from 8 studies using random-effects rather than fixed-effects modeling. What does this choice assume?
Answer: True effect sizes vary across studies due to real differences in populations or methods
Random-effects models assume that each study estimates a different true effect size drawn from a distribution of possible effects, accounting for between-study variability.
In a forensic toxicology validation study, the coefficient of variation (CV) is used to express which measurement property?
Answer: Precision as variability relative to the mean
Coefficient of variation (SD/mean × 100%) is a standardized measure of relative variability, expressing precision independent of units or scale.
Which research design is most appropriate to establish the incidence rate of a forensic-relevant condition such as excited delirium in a defined population over time?
Answer: Prospective cohort study with denominator population
Prospective cohort studies with a defined denominator population allow calculation of true incidence rates by tracking new cases over a defined time period.
A forensic researcher wants to assess whether a new bloodstain pattern classification system generalizes to real-world crime scenes beyond the training dataset. Which validation approach is most rigorous?
Answer: External validation using an independent prospective dataset from different laboratories
External validation with an independent prospective dataset is the most rigorous test of generalizability because it avoids overfitting to the original training data.