Research Methods

Research Methods

Case/Control vs. Intervention

The report was not a case/control study because the study design was not epidemiological. The study did not identify factors that may contribute to a medical condition by comparing subjects who have that condition (the 'cases') with patients who do not have the condition but are otherwise similar (the 'controls').

The report was an intervention study because it involves testing a hypothesized epidemiological cause-effect relationship by intervening in a population and modifying a supposed causal factor and measuring the effect of the change. As the report said:

Judith Garcia-Aymerich, M.D., Ph.D., of the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology ...