论文标题
成为“代表性”意味着什么？
What does it mean to be "representative"?
论文作者
论文摘要
医学和人口健康科学研究人员经常对他们认为自己的研究样本或结果是某些（隐性或明确）目标人群的“代表性”的含糊陈述。在这里，我们提供了代表性的全面定义，目的是捕捉研究可以代表目标人群的不同方式。我们认为，如果研究样本中获得的估计值可推广到目标人群（由于代表性抽样，层层特异性效应的估计或定量方法来推广或运输估计值）或结果解释可以推广到目标人群（基于基本科学的背景和实质性的实质知识））。我们在四项Covid-19研究的背景下探讨了这一定义，从实验室科学到描述性流行病学。关于代表性的所有陈述都应清楚研究结果概括，目标人群被推广到的目标，以及必须存在该概括的假设是科学或统计上合理的。
Medical and population health science researchers frequently make ambiguous statements about whether they believe their study sample or results are "representative" of some (implicit or explicit) target population. Here, we provide a comprehensive definition of representativeness, with the goal of capturing the different ways in which a study can be representative of a target population. We propose that a study is representative if the estimate obtained in the study sample is generalizable to the target population (either due to representative sampling, estimation of stratum specific effects, or quantitative methods to generalize or transport estimates) or the interpretation of the results is generalizable to the target population (based on fundamental scientific premises and substantive background knowledge). We explore this definition in the context of four COVID-19 studies, ranging from laboratory science to descriptive epidemiology. All statements regarding representativeness should make clear the way in which the study results generalize, the target population the results are being generalized to, and the assumptions that must hold for that generalization to be scientifically or statistically justifiable.
