Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36317190›Full record

ArticleDiscover social science and health2022

Investigating change across time in prevalence or association: the challenges of cross-study comparative research and possible solutions.

David Bann, Liam Wright, Alice Goisis, Rebecca Hardy, William Johnson, Jane Maddock, Eoin McElroy, Vanessa Moulton, Praveetha Patalay, Shaun Scholes and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Discover social science and health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

David BannCentre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Liam WrightCentre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Alice GoisisCentre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Rebecca HardySchool of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
William JohnsonSchool of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
Jane MaddockMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK.
Eoin McElroySchool of Psychology, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.
Vanessa MoultonCentre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Praveetha PatalayCentre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Shaun ScholesDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
Richard J SilverwoodCentre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
George B Ploubidis *Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Dara O'Neill *Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/V002147/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cross-study research initiatives to understand change across time are an increasingly prominent component of social and health sciences, yet they present considerable practical, analytical and conceptual challenges. First, we discuss the key challenges to comparative research as a basis for detecting societal change, as well as possible solutions. We focus on studies which investigate changes across time in outcome occurrence or the magnitude and/or direction of associations. We discuss the use and importance of such research, study inclusion, sources of bias and mitigation, and interpretation. Second, we propose a structured framework (a checklist) that is intended to provide guidance for future authors and reviewers. Third, we outline a new open-access teaching resource that offers detailed instruction and reusable analytical syntax to guide newcomers on techniques for conducting comparative analysis and data visualisation (in both R and Stata formats). Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44155-022-00021-1.

Indexed as

Comparative researchCross-study analysisMeasurementMissing dataTime trends

Identifiers

PMID36317190
PMCPMC9613735

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.