1. Study Design Considerations

Study Design Considerations

Simon R Carding, Falk Hildebrand & George M Savva

To tackle health monitoring and its modulation via the gut microbiota effectively, and obtain accurate and meaningful data, a meticulous study design is required. Here we provide advice on key aspects of the design of research studies relating to the microbiome. Additional information can be found in several recent excellent review articles [1–6]. While here we set out some of the specific challenges related to microbiome research, you must study the general literature on study design that is specific for the type of study that you are conducting, whether an epidemiological (population based) study, clinical trial involving human participants, or other in vivo or in vitro work. Many books cover research design issues for laboratory biologists and those working with animals [7–9], for those doing human clinical trials [10] and for epidemiologists [11, 12].

1. Study Design Considerations v1.0 [pdf]

Quadram Institute Best Practice in Microbiome Research: Study Design Considerations v1.0 by Simon R Carding, Falk Hildebrand & George M Savva is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.