BACKGROUND Systematic review and meta-analysis currently underpin much of evidence-based medicine. Such methodologies bring order to previous research, but future research planning remains relatively incoherent and inefficient. METHODS To outline a framework for evaluation of health interventions, aimed at increasing coherence and efficiency through i) making better use of information contain...

The importance of assessing fidelity has been emphasized recently with increasingly sophisticated definitions, assessment procedures, and integration of fidelity data into analyses of outcomes. Fidelity is often measured through observation and coding of instructional sessions either live or by video. However, little guidance has been provided about how to determine the number of observations n...

This review basically provided a conceptual framework for sample size calculation in epidemiologic studies with various designs and outcomes. The formula requirement of sample size was drawn based on statistical principles for both descriptive and comparative studies. The required sample size was estimated and presented graphically with different effect sizes and power of statistical test at 95...