Journal article
Quantifying and addressing the prevalence and bias of study designs in the environmental and social sciences
Nature communications, Vol.11(1), pp.6377-6377
2020
PMID: 33311448
Metrics
40 Record Views
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Abstract
Building trust in science and evidence-based decision-making depends heavily on the credibility of studies and their findings. Researchers employ many different study designs that vary in their risk of bias to evaluate the true effect of interventions or impacts. Here, we empirically quantify, on a large scale, the prevalence of different study designs and the magnitude of bias in their estimates. Randomised designs and controlled observational designs with pre-intervention sampling were used by just 23% of intervention studies in biodiversity conservation, and 36% of intervention studies in social science. We demonstrate, through pairwise within-study comparisons across 49 environmental datasets, that these types of designs usually give less biased estimates than simpler observational designs. We propose a model-based approach to combine study estimates that may suffer from different levels of study design bias, discuss the implications for evidence synthesis, and how to facilitate the use of more credible study designs.
Details
- Title
- Quantifying and addressing the prevalence and bias of study designs in the environmental and social sciences
- Creators
- Alec P Christie (Author) - University of CambridgeDavid Abecasis (Author) - Universidade do AlgarveMehdi Adjeroud (Author) - Université de PerpignanJuan C Alonso (Author) - Museo Nacional de Ciencias NaturalesTatsuya Amano (Author) - University of QueenslandAlvaro Anton (Author) - University of the Basque CountryBarry P Baldigo (Author) - United States Geological SurveyRafael Barrientos (Author) - Universidad Complutense de MadridJake E Bicknell (Author) - University of KentDeborah A Buhl (Author) - United States Geological SurveyJust Cebrian (Author) - Mississippi State UniversityRicardo S Ceia (Author) - University of CoimbraLuciana Cibils-Martina (Author) - Universidad Nacional de Río CuartoSarah Clarke (Author) - Marine InstituteJoachim Claudet (Author) - Université PSLMichael D Craig (Author) - University of Western AustraliaDominique Davoult (Author) - Sorbonne UniversityAnnelies De Backer (Author) - Flanders Research Institute for AgricultureMary K Donovan (Author) - University of California, Santa BarbaraTyler D Eddy (Author) - University of South CarolinaFilipe M França (Author) - Lancaster UniversityJonathan P. A Gardner (Author) - Victoria University of WellingtonBradley P Harris (Author) - Alaska Pacific UniversityAri Huusko (Author) - Natural Resources Institute FinlandIan L Jones (Author) - Memorial University of NewfoundlandBrendan P Kelaher (Author) - Southern Cross UniversityJanne S Kotiaho (Author) - University of JyväskyläAdrià López-Baucells (Author) - University of LisbonHeather L Major (Author) - University of New BrunswickAki Mäki-Petäys (Author) - University of OuluBeatriz Martín (Author) - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCOCarlos A Martín (Author) - Universidad Complutense de MadridPhilip A Martin (Author) - University of CambridgeDaniel Mateos-Molina (Author) - Universidad de MurciaRobert A McConnaughey (Author) - NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science CenterMichele Meroni (Author) - Joint Research CentreChristoph F. J Meyer (Author) - University of LisbonKade Mills (Author) - Victorian National Park AssociationMonica Montefalcone (Author) - University of GenoaNorbertas Noreika (Author) - Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesCarlos Palacín (Author) - Museo Nacional de Ciencias NaturalesAnjali Pande (Author) - Victoria University of WellingtonC. Roland Pitcher (Author) - Universidade do AlgarveCarlos Ponce (Author) - Museo Nacional de Ciencias NaturalesMatt Rinella (Author) - Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research LaboratoryRicardo Rocha (Author) - University of LisbonMaría C Ruiz-Delgado (Author) - Universidad Pablo de OlavideJuan J Schmitter-Soto (Author) - El Colegio de la Frontera SurJill A Shaffer (Author) - U.S. Geological Survey - Northern Prairie Wildlife Research CenterShailesh Sharma (Author) - New York State Department of Environmental ConservationAnna A Sher (Author) - University of DenverDoriane Stagnol (Author) - Sorbonne UniversityThomas R Stanley (Author) - United States Geological SurveyKevin D. E Stokesbury (Author) - University of MassachusettsAurora Torres (Author) - Université Catholique de LouvainOliver Tully (Author) - Marine InstituteTeppo Vehanen (Author) - Natural Resources Institute FinlandCorinne Watts (Author) - Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchQingyuan Zhao (Author) - University of CambridgeWilliam J Sutherland (Author) - University of Cambridge
- Publication Details
- Nature communications, Vol.11(1), pp.6377-6377
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group UK; London
- Identifiers
- 991012912599302368
- Academic Unit
- National Marine Science Centre
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article