Research Methods & Biostatistics

1.1 Scope of dental research; 1.2 Research in dental education and practice; 1.3 Types of research

1.1 What is research?; 1.2 Why dentists need research skills; 1.3 Types of research in dentistry

2.1 Identifying a research problem; 2.2 Formulating research questions; 2.3 Aims, objectives and hypotheses

3.1 Purpose of literature review; 3.2 Sources of evidence; 3.3 Database searching; 3.4 Search strategy

4.1 Observational study designs; 4.2 Experimental study designs; 4.3 Laboratory and in-vitro studies; 4.4 Qualitative study designs

5.1 Disease frequency; 5.2 Measures of association; 5.3 Measures of effect

6.1 Study population and sampling frame; 6.2 Probability sampling; 6.3 Non-probability sampling; 6.4 Sample size principles

7.1 Variables in research; 7.2 Types of data; 7.3 Measurement quality; 7.4 Dental measurement examples

8.1 Bias in research; 8.2 Confounding; 8.3 Validity; 8.4 Strategies to reduce error

9.1 Clinical data collection; 9.2 Questionnaires and surveys; 9.3 Interviews and qualitative data; 9.4 Data management

10.1 Summarising categorical data; 10.2 Measures of central tendency; 10.3 Measures of dispersion; 10.4 Data presentation

11.1 Basic probability concepts; 11.2 Normal distribution; 11.3 Other distributions

12.1 Principles of inference; 12.2 Hypothesis testing; 12.3 Confidence intervals; 12.4 Statistical power

13.1 Choosing a statistical test; 13.2 Tests for categorical data; 13.3 Tests for continuous data; 13.4 Correlation and regression

14.1 Principles of diagnostic accuracy; 14.2 Diagnostic accuracy measures; 14.3 ROC analysis awareness

15.1 Clinical trial design ; 15.2 Randomisation and allocation; 15.3 Clinical trial outcomes; 15.4 Reporting clinical trials

16.1 Systematic review principles; 16.2 Critical components; 16.3 Meta-analysis awareness; 16.4 Evidence grading

17.1 Principles of critical appraisal; 17.2 Appraising different study types; 17.3 Evidence-based dentistry process; 17.4 Applying evidence to patient care

18.1 Ethical principles; 18.2 Informed consent in research; 18.3 Research governance; 18.4 Research integrity

19.1 Research proposal writing; 19.2 Dissertation and thesis writing; 19.3 Manuscript preparation; 19.4 Reporting guidelines

20.1 Statistical software awareness; 20.2 Reference management tools; 20.3 Digital survey tools; 20.4 Artificial intelligence in research awareness