-
akhpad
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 809
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:10 pm
- Thanked: 50 times
- Followed by:4 members
Source: OG 12th Ed
Frazier and Mosteller assert that medical
research could be improved by a move toward
larger, simpler clinical trials of medical treatments.
Currently, researchers collect far more background
information on patients than is strictly required for
their trials-substantially more than hospitals
collect-thereby escalating costs of data
collection, storage, and analysis. Although limiting
information collection could increase the risk that
researchers will overlook facts relevant to a study,
Frazier and Mosteller contend that such risk, never
entirely eliminable from research, would still be
small in most studies. Only in research on entirely
new treatments are new and unexpected variables
likely to arise.
Frazier and Mosteller propose not only that
researchers limit data collection on individual
patients but also that researchers enroll more
patients in clinical trials, thereby obtaining a more
representative sample of the total population with
the disease under study. Often researchers restrict
study participation to patients who have no
ailments besides those being studied. A treatment
judged successful under these ideal conditions can
then be evaluated under normal conditions.
Broadening the range of trial participants, Frazier
and Mosteller suggest, would enable researchers to
evaluate a treatment's efficacy for diverse patients
under various conditions and to evaluate its
effectiveness for different patient subgroups. For
example, the value of a treatment for a progressive
disease may vary according to a patient's stage of
disease. Patients' ages may also affect a
treatment's efficacy.
Q
The author mentions patients' ages (line 33) primarily in order to
(A) identify the most critical variable differentiating subgroups of patients
(B) cast doubt on the advisability of implementing Frazier and Mosteller's proposals about medical research
(C) indicate why progressive diseases may require different treatments at different stages
(D) illustrate a point about the value of enrolling a wide range of patients in clinical trials
(E) substantiate an argument about the problems inherent in enrolling large numbers of patients in clinical trials
OA: D
Q
According to the passage, which of the following describes a result of the way in which researchers generally conduct clinical trials?
(A) They expend resources on the storage of information likely to be irrelevant to the study they are conducting.
(B) They sometimes compromise the accuracy of their findings by collecting and analyzing more information than is strictly required for their trials.
(C) They avoid the risk of overlooking variables that might affect their findings, even though doing so raises their research costs.
(D) Because they attempt to analyze too much information, they overlook facts that could emerge as relevant to their studies.
(E) In order to approximate the conditions typical of medical treatment, they base their methods of information collection on those used by hospitals.
OA: A
Both of the above questions are addressed in 2nd paragraph of the passage but I could not understood why.
Frazier and Mosteller assert that medical
research could be improved by a move toward
larger, simpler clinical trials of medical treatments.
Currently, researchers collect far more background
information on patients than is strictly required for
their trials-substantially more than hospitals
collect-thereby escalating costs of data
collection, storage, and analysis. Although limiting
information collection could increase the risk that
researchers will overlook facts relevant to a study,
Frazier and Mosteller contend that such risk, never
entirely eliminable from research, would still be
small in most studies. Only in research on entirely
new treatments are new and unexpected variables
likely to arise.
Frazier and Mosteller propose not only that
researchers limit data collection on individual
patients but also that researchers enroll more
patients in clinical trials, thereby obtaining a more
representative sample of the total population with
the disease under study. Often researchers restrict
study participation to patients who have no
ailments besides those being studied. A treatment
judged successful under these ideal conditions can
then be evaluated under normal conditions.
Broadening the range of trial participants, Frazier
and Mosteller suggest, would enable researchers to
evaluate a treatment's efficacy for diverse patients
under various conditions and to evaluate its
effectiveness for different patient subgroups. For
example, the value of a treatment for a progressive
disease may vary according to a patient's stage of
disease. Patients' ages may also affect a
treatment's efficacy.
Q
The author mentions patients' ages (line 33) primarily in order to
(A) identify the most critical variable differentiating subgroups of patients
(B) cast doubt on the advisability of implementing Frazier and Mosteller's proposals about medical research
(C) indicate why progressive diseases may require different treatments at different stages
(D) illustrate a point about the value of enrolling a wide range of patients in clinical trials
(E) substantiate an argument about the problems inherent in enrolling large numbers of patients in clinical trials
OA: D
Q
According to the passage, which of the following describes a result of the way in which researchers generally conduct clinical trials?
(A) They expend resources on the storage of information likely to be irrelevant to the study they are conducting.
(B) They sometimes compromise the accuracy of their findings by collecting and analyzing more information than is strictly required for their trials.
(C) They avoid the risk of overlooking variables that might affect their findings, even though doing so raises their research costs.
(D) Because they attempt to analyze too much information, they overlook facts that could emerge as relevant to their studies.
(E) In order to approximate the conditions typical of medical treatment, they base their methods of information collection on those used by hospitals.
OA: A
Both of the above questions are addressed in 2nd paragraph of the passage but I could not understood why.
