Clinical Trials Dictionary

A thoroughly updated new edition of the essential reference on the design, practice, and analysis of clinical trials

Clinical Trials Dictionary: Terminology and Usage Recommendations, Second Edition presents clear, precise, meticulously detailed entries on all aspects of modern-day clinical trials. Written and compiled by one of the world’s leading clinical trialists, this comprehensive volume incorporates areas of medicine, statistics, epidemiology, computer science, and bioethics—providing a treasure trove of key terms and ideas.

This new edition continues to supply readers with the A–Z terminology needed to design, conduct, and analyze trials, introducing a vocabulary for the characterization and description of related features and activities. More than 300 new entries are now included, reflecting the current usage practices and conventions in the field, along with usage notes with recommendations on when to use the term in question. Detailed biographical notes highlight prominent historical figures and institutions in the field, and an extensive bibliography has been updated to provide readers with additional resources for further study.

The most up-to-date work of its kind, Clinical Trials Dictionary, Second Edition is an essential reference for anyone who needs to report on, index, analyze, or assess the scientific strength and validity of clinical trials.

Foreword 1st Edition ix

Preface xi

Contributors xiii

Explanatory Notes xv

Domain of coverage xv

Order and place of entries xv

Synonyms, antonyms, and related terms xv

Language and usage conventions xv

Sources and references xvi

Adages xvi

Usage notes xvi

Etymologies xvi

Abbreviations xvii

Index xvii

Usage Practices, Cautions, And Recommendations xix

Recommended and preferred usages xx

Comparative and relative terms xxii

Redundancies, repetitions, and unnecessary words xxiii

Not saying what we mean xxv

Humanizing the inanimate xxv

Pre-, post-, non-, and un- words xxvi

Small troublesome words xxvi

The language of praise, implied value

judgment, and presumption xxvii

Euphemisms xxix

Currency words xxix

The language of criticism xxx

The language of exception xxxi

The language of intimidation, implication, and position xxxii

The language of division xxxiii

Usurpative language xxxiii

The language of positivity and negativity xxxiv

Pronouns xxxvii

The language of equivocation and weaseling xxxvii

Vacuous language and claims xxxviii

Jargon xxxviii

Truth by declaration and repetition xxxix

Abbreviations xli

Listing of Entries xlvii

Dictionary

A 1

B 15

C 27

D 63

E 79

F 93

G 107

H 113

I 119

J and K 137

l 141

M 151

N 165

O 175

P 185

Q 217

R 221

S 241

T 273

U 291

V 297

W 301

X, Y, and Z 305

References 307

Index 317

“Clinical Trials Dictionary belongs in any library collection serving readers and writers of clinical trials, including libraries for nursing, social work, epidemiology, medicine, public health, psychology, sociology and any other of the many related fields for which the clinical trial represents a valuable standard of evidence.” (Reference Reviews, 1 November 2013)

“Clinical Trials Dictionary: Terminology and Usage Recommendations” is an insightful and meticulous guide to clinical research that is organized like a dictionary. The author is passionate about the use of language for ill purpose, as evidenced by the usage recommendations and an essay about the language of euphemism, critiicism, intimidation, division, usurpation, equivocation, etc.” (Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices, 7 July 2013)

CURTIS L. MEINERT, PhD, is Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he served as founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Trials. He is a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Heart Association, and the Society for Clinical Trials. Dr. Meinert has focused his research on the methodological issues in clinical trials, including their design, conduct, policy, and practice. He is the author of Clinical Trials Handbook: Design and Conduct (Wiley).

A thoroughly updated new edition of the essential reference on the design, practice, and analysis of clinical trials

Clinical Trials Dictionary: Terminology and Usage Recommendations, Second Edition presents clear, precise, meticulously detailed entries on all aspects of modern-day clinical trials. Written and compiled by one of the world's leading clinical trialists, this comprehensive volume incorporates areas of medicine, statistics, epidemiology, computer science, and bioethics—providing a treasure trove of key terms and ideas.

This new edition continues to supply readers with the A–Z terminology needed to design, conduct, and analyze trials, introducing a vocabulary for the characterization and description of related features and activities. More than 300 new entries are now included, reflecting the current usage practices and conventions in the field, along with usage notes with recommendations on when to use the term in question. Detailed biographical notes highlight prominent historical figures and institutions in the field, and an extensive bibliography has been updated to provide readers with additional resources for further study.

The most up-to-date work of its kind, Clinical Trials Dictionary, Second Edition is an essential reference for anyone who needs to report on, index, analyze, or assess the scientific strength and validity of clinical trials.