A research design entails a framework within which research is conducted. Epidemiologic research is the type of study that entails collecting important data about causes, prevention as well as disease treatments. Researchers use different study designs to gather the required information. They use Experimental designs or observable studies like cohort and case studies.
The design study that was employed by Larsson et al. in carrying out an investigation of the factors that contribute to autism is a case-control study design. In a classical case study, the researcher examines a single disease in accordance to exposure to more or one agent. Case-control studies use cases of those who suffer from the disease under investigation and controls, which represents the population from which the cases are defined and enrolled. The strategy used by Larson was a case-control study because it entails an investigation of a single disease referred to as autism.
The study involved children born from 1 January 1973 and at risk of being diagnosed with autism by 31 December 1999. The case study entailed 698 children born between 1973 and 1994 who were discharged from Danish Psychiatric hospital being diagnosed with autism. They included 167 girls and 531 boys. The use of case study design has various benefits. One of its advantages is its ability to easily identify the case and controls.
Another advantage of the design is it has a high rate of participation as well as it is economical and ethical to use. The use of case-control studies increases the reliability of the results delivered because the cases and controls come from the same population, and hence they have comparable characteristics. The main failure of this type of design is its difficulty in establishing the appropriate illness for inclusion.
