Strategic methodological and statistical advisory for high-impact clinical research.
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Statistical Analysis Planning

Building Clear, Defensible, and Reproducible Analysis Strategies

Statistical Analysis Planning

Turning Research Questions into Defensible Analytical Decisions

A strong statistical analysis plan defines how study data will be prepared, analysed, interpreted, and reported before the results are known.

The Methods Clinic supports clinicians, investigators, and research teams in developing clear and transparent statistical strategies for clinical trials, observational studies, pragmatic studies, registry-based research, and real-world data projects.

We work directly with your research objectives, study design, outcomes, estimands, data sources, and expected limitations. This helps ensure that each statistical method is scientifically appropriate, clearly justified, and capable of answering the intended research question.

Our support can begin during study design, protocol development, grant preparation, or before data analysis begins.

We Support Analysis Planning For:

  • Randomised and non-randomised clinical trials
  • Observational and epidemiological studies
  • Prospective and retrospective cohort studies
  • Case-control and cross-sectional studies
  • Pragmatic and cluster-randomised trials
  • Registry-based research
  • Real-world evidence studies
  • Pilot and feasibility studies
  • Multi-centre research projects
  • Studies using routinely collected healthcare data
Why Choose Us

Strong Statistical Planning Improves the Credibility of Your Findings

A protocol is more than an administrative document. It is the scientific and operational blueprint for the study.

Weak or inconsistent protocols can lead to unclear objectives, inappropriate outcomes, recruitment problems, incomplete data collection, analytical difficulties, ethics concerns, and challenges during funding or peer review.

The Methods Clinic helps investigators identify and correct these issues before study implementation.

Clear Analytical Direction

We translate your research objectives into specific, answerable statistical questions.

Better Design–Analysis Alignment

We ensure that the proposed methods reflect the study design, outcome structure, sampling approach, and data-generating process.

Transparent Decision-Making

We help document assumptions, definitions, exclusions, transformations, and analytical choices clearly.

Defensible Interpretation

We strengthen the connection between the statistical results, clinical question, uncertainty, and intended conclusions.

What Our Support Includes

Our Statistical Analysis Planning Services

Methodological guidance across every analytical decision, helping you develop a clear, transparent, reproducible, and scientifically defensible statistical analysis plan.

01

Analysis Objectives and Hypotheses

Defining the primary and secondary analytical objectives, hypotheses, and decision-relevant comparisons.

02

Estimand Development

Clarifying the target population, treatment or exposure condition, outcome, intercurrent events, and summary measure.

03

Analysis Population Definition

Defining intention-to-treat, per-protocol, safety, complete-case, modified, or other relevant analysis populations.

04

Outcome Specification

Clarifying primary, secondary, exploratory, safety, patient-reported, composite, and repeated outcomes.

05

Variable Definition and Coding

Developing clear rules for variable construction, categorisation, transformation, derived variables, and coding.

06

Descriptive Analysis

Planning summaries of baseline characteristics, participant flow, exposures, outcomes, follow-up, and data completeness.

07

Primary Analysis Strategy

Selecting and justifying the principal statistical method used to answer the main research question.

08

Secondary and Exploratory Analyses

Defining supporting, hypothesis-generating, subgroup, interaction, and supplementary analyses.

09

Covariate Selection and Adjustment

Determining which covariates should be included and whether adjustment is based on design, precision, confounding, or clinical relevance.

10

Confounding and Causal Strategy

Planning methods to address measured confounding, including regression adjustment, matching, weighting, stratification, or other appropriate approaches.

11

Repeated Measures and Longitudinal Data

Developing strategies for correlated observations, repeated assessments, trajectories, and within-participant change.

12

Time-to-Event Analysis

Planning survival, competing-risk, recurrent-event, censoring, and follow-up analyses where appropriate.

13

Clustered and Multi-Level Data

Accounting for participants nested within centres, hospitals, communities, clinicians, or other hierarchical structures.

14

Missing-Data Strategy

Defining how missing outcomes, covariates, follow-up data, withdrawals, and incomplete observations will be assessed and handled.

15

Sensitivity Analyses

Planning analyses that test the robustness of findings to alternative assumptions, definitions, populations, and methods.

16

Subgroup and Interaction Analyses

Identifying clinically justified subgroups and specifying how treatment or exposure effect differences will be assessed.

17

Multiplicity Considerations

Addressing multiple outcomes, comparisons, time points, subgroups, and the risk of false-positive findings.

18

Model Assumptions and Diagnostics

Defining how statistical assumptions, model fit, influential observations, residuals, and other diagnostics will be evaluated.

19

Interim Analysis and Stopping Rules

Supporting plans for interim review, efficacy, safety, futility, or data-monitoring decisions where relevant.

20

Data Presentation and Reporting

Planning tables, figures, effect estimates, confidence intervals, uncertainty measures, and reporting formats.

21

Statistical Software and Reproducibility

Documenting software, packages, versioning, code review, validation, and reproducible analytical workflows.

22

Statistical Analysis Plan Review

Providing critical review of draft or near-final plans for clarity, consistency, completeness, and methodological strength.

Build a clear and defensible statistical analysis plan.

Receive focused statistical and methodological guidance before your results influence analytical decisions.

Discuss Your Analysis Plan

Saving Money While Taking Care Of Your Health.

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Contact Us

Let’s Discuss Your Research Project

Developing a clinical study, preparing a grant application, planning an analysis, or refining a manuscript?