The design of simulation studies in medical statistics
- PMID: 16947139
- DOI: 10.1002/sim.2673
The design of simulation studies in medical statistics
Abstract
Simulation studies use computer intensive procedures to assess the performance of a variety of statistical methods in relation to a known truth. Such evaluation cannot be achieved with studies of real data alone. Designing high-quality simulations that reflect the complex situations seen in practice, such as in prognostic factors studies, is not a simple process. Unfortunately, very few published simulation studies provide sufficient details to allow readers to understand fully all the processes required to design a simulation study. When planning a simulation study, it is recommended that a detailed protocol be produced, giving full details of how the study will be performed, analysed and reported. This paper details the important considerations necessary when designing any simulation study, including defining specific objectives of the study, determining the procedures for generating the data sets and the number of simulations to perform. A checklist highlighting the important considerations when designing a simulation study is provided. A small review of the literature identifies the current practices within published simulation studies.
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comment in
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The design of simulation studies in medical statistics by Andrea Burton, Douglas G. Altman, Patrick Royston and Roger L. Holder, Statistics in Medicine 2006; 25:4279-4292.Stat Med. 2007 Sep 10;26(20):3818-21. doi: 10.1002/sim.2876. Stat Med. 2007. PMID: 17357991 No abstract available.
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