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non-randomized study

— A category of studies that does not use random allocation to assign participants to treatment comparison groups

Synonyms:

non-experimental study, observational study,

Full explanation:

study, non-randomized, also referred to as observational or non-experimental studies, do not use random allocation to assign participants to treatment comparison groups.

It is difficult to ensure that treatment comparison groups are sufficiently similar in terms of prognostic variables in non-randomized studies, particularly prognostic variables that remain undiscovered.

There is thus a greater risk of allocation bias in non-randomized studies than there is in randomized studies.

See also:

case-control study  ·  cohort study  ·  cross-sectional study  ·  case report  ·  case series  ·  randomized study  ·  study design

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