Glossary
Research language can be confusing. These short definitions explain the terms used across this guide, in everyday words.
- Abstract
- A short summary at the start of a research paper. Useful, but it leaves out detail.
- Adverse event
- Any unwanted health problem that happens during a study or after a medicine is used. It may or may not be caused by what was tested.
- Bias
- Anything that tilts a result in one direction, such as how people were picked, how outcomes were measured, or which results were published.
- Blinding
- Keeping participants, and often researchers, unaware of who received what, so expectations do not shape the results.
- Cannabinoid
- A chemical compound that acts on the body’s cannabinoid system. Some come from the cannabis plant, some are made by the body, and some are made in laboratories.
- Case report
- A description of what happened to one person, or a small number of people. It is a starting point for questions, not a test.
- Clinical trial
- A planned research study with people, designed to answer a specific question about a medicine, device, therapy or other health measure.
- Confounder
- A hidden difference between groups, such as age or other health problems, that can make a result look like it was caused by something else.
- Conflict of interest
- A tie, such as funding or employment, that could shape how research is done or reported. Declaring it is the normal, honest step.
- Control group
- The group in a study that is compared with the group being tested. It may get a placebo or usual care.
- Effect size
- How big a difference a study found between groups. A result can be real but small.
- Endocannabinoid system
- A network in the body, made of natural messenger chemicals and the places they attach to, that researchers study for its role in many body functions.
- Ethics committee
- An independent group that reviews planned research with people to check that participants are protected.
- Evidence
- The information used to support a claim. Some kinds of evidence are stronger than others.
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
- The rules that decide who can and cannot join a study. They protect participants and make results easier to interpret.
- Informed consent
- Agreeing to take part in research after being given clear information and a chance to ask questions. It can be withdrawn at any time.
- Meta-analysis
- A statistical method that pools the numbers from several similar studies to give one combined result.
- Observational study
- A study that watches what happens to groups of people without assigning anything to them.
- Peer review
- Checking of a research paper by other experts before a journal publishes it.
- Placebo
- A look-alike with no active ingredient, used so that the comparison group has similar expectations.
- Preclinical research
- Research done before testing in people, usually in cells or animals.
- Preprint
- A research paper shared publicly before peer review.
- Publication bias
- The tendency for studies with exciting results to be published more often than studies with quiet ones.
- Randomised controlled trial
- A study in which chance decides who goes into which group, so the groups can be fairly compared.
- Registry
- A public list where studies are recorded, often before they begin. In Australia, the main one for clinical trials is the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry.
- Retraction
- A journal’s formal withdrawal of a published paper because of serious problems.
- Sample size
- The number of people, or animals, who take part in a study.
- Scheduling
- The system that sorts medicines and poisons into groups that affect how they can be supplied.
- Systematic review
- A review that searches for all suitable studies on a question and combines them using set rules.
- Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
- The Australian Government body that regulates therapeutic goods, including medicines and medical devices.