The Non-Randomised Studies Methods Group (NRSMG) of
the Cochrane Collaboration advises the Steering Group to set policy and
formulate guidance about the inclusion of non-randomized studies (NRS)
of the effectiveness of healthcare interventions in Cochrane reviews.
Membership of the group is open to anyone who wishes to contribute actively
to the work of group. The work of the group is primarily methodological,
rather than focused on particular healthcare interventions.
Activities of NRSMG members include:
developing guidelines to help
decide when to include non-randomized data in Cochrane reviews;
conducting methodological research
in the use of non-randomized studies, including search methods, quality
assessment, meta-analysis, pitfalls and misuse;
conducting empirical research
to compare bias in systematic reviews using both randomized and non-randomized
studies, and to identify conditions under which randomized and non-randomized
studies have led to similar conclusions, and situations in which the conclusions
have been clearly contradictory;
collating examples of healthcare
questions that (a) have been studied using both non-randomized studies
and randomized trials; and (b) have not been (or which for a long period
have not been) studied adequately by means of randomized trials; and
providing training at annual
Cochrane Colloquia.
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