EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE TUTORIAL No 4

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE TUTORIAL No 4 Jargon in Research One of the most daunting aspects of reading scientific papers is the weight of jargon. We have already acquired a substantial amount of jargon in our professional life, but having mastered this we are now faced with a large volume of other terms with which to familiarise ourselves. Tying to find the true meaning of research jargon by consulting various textbooks can be a very time consuming and frustrating process; one book never has all the terms we want or need. This article is designed to save time and give a basic introduction to terms commonly used in research papers. A series of articles will be published in successive issues of The Osteopath which will try to give an overview of commonly used research terms. Jargon can often add mystique to a subject, but that can also result in fear and apprehension about a subject. The aim of these articles is to demystify the subject and attempt to show that research shouldn’t hold any fear. ABSOLUTE RISK (AR): This is the risk of having a disease. If the incidence of a disease is 1 in 1000, the absolute risk is 1 in 1000 or 0.1%. ABSOLUTE RISK REDUCTION (ARR): This is the absolute arithmetic difference in rates of bad outcomes between experimental and control participants in a clinical trial. ABSTRACT: An abbreviated summary of a research report, generally found at the beginning of the report. ADVERSE EVENT: An untoward occurrence ...