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Abstract

Carefully designing an analysis plan is an important part of study protocol development. Analysis plans specify the chosen outcome parameters, the analysis procedures, and the way in which the statistical findings will be reported. Planned analysis procedures can include data transformations to prepare study variables, descriptions of sample characteristics, methods of statistical estimation, and methods of statistical testing. However, one cannot foresee every detail of how the analysis will proceed. Indeed, particularities of the data, unknown at the study’s planning stage, will guide many decisions during the actual data analysis. This chapter therefore deals with general issues that arise in the preparation of an analysis plan and in the setup and approach to analysis, and provides a broad framework for analysis planning applicable to most epidemiological studies.

Plan A.

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Correspondence to Jan Van den Broeck M.D., Ph.D. .

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Van den Broeck, J., Brestoff, J.R. (2013). The Analysis Plan. In: Van den Broeck, J., Brestoff, J. (eds) Epidemiology: Principles and Practical Guidelines. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5989-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5989-3_13

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