Abstract

CARDONA-ARIAS, JAIBERTH ANTONIO. ORTHODOXY AND FISSURES IN THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES. rev.fac.med [online]. 2015, vol.23, n.1, pp.40-51. ISSN 0121-5256.  https://doi.org/10.18359/rmed.1328.

Introduction: In some contexts the descriptive researching has been referred with derogatory terms by its biases and low impact in the study of risk factors. This could be attributed to a lack of conceptual and methodological foundations. Objective: To seek the advantages of the descriptive studies from a review of its conceptual and methodological foundations. Methods: Narrative review of the benefits, uses and limitations of descriptive studies, coupled with the analysis of some methodological aspects. Results: the specific items of descriptive studies are presented in terms of their types, uses, advantages and limitations. Regarding the conceptual phase of the research was analyzed the problem, grounds, objectives and theoretical framework. In the methodological phase are presented some determinants to ensure validity of descriptive researching as the classification and control of bias, confounding and statistical analysis. At the end it is showed the content of a descriptive article in the light of their needs and epidemiological statistics. Conclusion: Descriptive researching is exposing more accurate and directly the reality of a phenomenon under study, so it is necessary to understand its conceptual and operational requirements to mitigate misconceptions about its scope.

Keywords : Epidemiology; Descriptive; Methods; Operations Research; Review; Epidemiologic Research Design.

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