What is clinical research? 

Clinical research is a structured process of investigating facts, theories and exploring connections. It proceeds in a systematic way to examine clinical conditions and outcomes, to establish relationships among clinical phenomenon, to generate evidence for decision making, and to provide the platform for improving methods of clinical practice. 

Clinical research aims to advance medical knowledge by studying people, either through direct interaction or through the collection and analysis of blood, tissues, or other samples.

 The goals of clinical research are to understand the nature and processes behind human diseases, how to treat and prevent such diseases, and promote health. 

Clinical research must be empirical and critical. Meaning the results must be observable, documented and examined for validity. It is a dynamic and creative process, performed in many different settings, using a variety of quantitative and qualitative measurement tools and focusing on the application of clinical theory and interventions. 

Types of Clinical Research

The research process describes a strategy for gathering, analyzing and interpreting data to answer a question. There is not one by many structured frameworks that are used to classify different types of research according to their purpose and objective. These are some of the broad categories of clinical research.