This book begins with an introduction of pragmatic cluster randomized trials (PCTs) and reviews various pragmatic issues that need to be addressed by statisticians at the design stage. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each type of PCT, and provides sample size formulas, sensitivity analyses, and examples for sample size calculation. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) method will be employed to derive sample size formulas for various types of outcomes from the exponential family, including continuous, binary, and count variables. Experimental designs that have been frequently employed in PCTs will be discussed, including cluster randomized designs, matched-pair cluster randomized design, stratified cluster randomized design, stepped-wedge cluster randomized design, longitudinal cluster randomized design, and crossover cluster randomized design. It demonstrates that the GEE approach is flexible to accommodate pragmatic issues such as hierarchical correlation structures, different missing data patterns, randomly varying cluster sizes, etc. It has been reported that the GEE approach leads to under-estimated variance with limited numbers of clusters. The remedy for this limitation is investigated for the design of PCTs. This book can assist practitioners in the design of PCTs by providing a description of the advantages and disadvantages of various PCTs and sample size formulas that address various pragmatic issues, facilitating the proper implementation of PCTs to improve health care. It can also serve as a textbook for biostatistics students at the graduate level to enhance their knowledge or skill in clinical trial design. Key Features: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each type of PCTs, and provide sample size formulas, sensitivity analyses, and examples. Address an unmet need for guidance books on sample size calculations for PCTs; A wide variety of experimental designs adopted by PCTs are covered; The sample size solutions can be readily implemented due to the accommodation of common pragmatic issues encountered in real-world practice; Useful to both academic and industrial biostatisticians involved in clinical trial design; Can be used as a textbook for graduate students majoring in statistics and biostatistics.

Accurate sample size calculation ensures that clinical studies have adequate power to detect clinically meaningful effects. This results in the efficient use of resources and avoids exposing a disproportionate number of patients to experimental treatments caused by an overpowered study. Sample Size Calculations for Clustered and Longitudinal Outcomes in Clinical Research explains how to determine sample size for studies with correlated outcomes, which are widely implemented in medical, epidemiological, and behavioral studies. The book focuses on issues specific to the two types of correlated outcomes: longitudinal and clustered. For clustered studies, the authors provide sample size formulas that accommodate variable cluster sizes and within-cluster correlation. For longitudinal studies, they present sample size formulas to account for within-subject correlation among repeated measurements and various missing data patterns. For multiple levels of clustering, the level at which to perform randomization actually becomes a design parameter. The authors show how this can greatly impact trial administration, analysis, and sample size requirement. Addressing the overarching theme of sample size determination for correlated outcomes, this book provides a useful resource for biostatisticians, clinical investigators, epidemiologists, and social scientists whose research involves trials with correlated outcomes. Each chapter is self-contained so readers can explore topics relevant to their research projects without having to refer to other chapters.

Accurate sample size calculation ensures that clinical studies have adequate power to detect clinically meaningful effects. This results in the efficient use of resources and avoids exposing a disproportionate number of patients to experimental treatments caused by an overpowered study. Sample Size Calculations for Clustered and Longitudinal Outcomes in Clinical Research explains how to determine sample size for studies with correlated outcomes, which are widely implemented in medical, epidemiological, and behavioral studies. The book focuses on issues specific to the two types of correlated outcomes: longitudinal and clustered. For clustered studies, the authors provide sample size formulas that accommodate variable cluster sizes and within-cluster correlation. For longitudinal studies, they present sample size formulas to account for within-subject correlation among repeated measurements and various missing data patterns. For multiple levels of clustering, the level at which to perform randomization actually becomes a design parameter. The authors show how this can greatly impact trial administration, analysis, and sample size requirement. Addressing the overarching theme of sample size determination for correlated outcomes, this book provides a useful resource for biostatisticians, clinical investigators, epidemiologists, and social scientists whose research involves trials with correlated outcomes. Each chapter is self-contained so readers can explore topics relevant to their research projects without having to refer to other chapters.

One of the largest political protests in contemporary Korean history, the May 1980 Kwangju Uprising still exerts a profound, often contested, influence in Korean society. Through a deft combination of personal reflections and academic analysis, Contentious Kwangju offers a comprehensive examination of the multiple, shifting meanings of this seminal event and explains how the memory of Kwangju has affected Korean life from politics to culture. The first half of the book offers highly personal perspectives on the details of the uprising itself, including the Citizens' Army, the fleeting days of Kwangju citizen autonomy, the activities of American missionaries, and the aftermath following the uprising's suppression by government forces. The second half provides a wide-ranging scholarly assessment of the impact of Kwangju in South Korea, from democratization and the fate of survivors to regional identity and popular culture, concluding with an examination of Kwangju's significance in the larger flow of modern Korean history. In keeping with the book's title, the essays offer competing interpretations of the Kwangju Uprising, yet together provide the most thorough English-language treatment to date of the multifaceted, sweeping significance of this pivotal event.