Critical appraisal skills are essential for interpreting studies and performing research. Each study design is susceptible to its own problems, and this chapter has summarized some of these areas of weakness, so that, for example, when reading a case–control study the immediate consideration should be whether there is recall or selection bias. However the essential characteristic of good research which has been well reported is that the reader is able to understand each stage of the process from setting out the aims of the study to reporting its conclusions.

Critical appraisal skills are essential for interpreting studies and performing research. Each study design is susceptible to its own problems, and this chapter has summarized some of these areas of weakness, so that, for example, when reading a case–control study the immediate consideration should be whether there is recall or selection bias. However the essential characteristic of good research which has been well reported is that the reader is able to understand each stage of the process from setting out the aims of the study to reporting its conclusions.