The specific aims of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Center's Data Management and Statistical Analysis Core Facility (DMSA) are to support the long term objectives of the Research Center and the conduct of scientifically valid research into complementary and alternative medicine practices used in the prevention and amelioration of cardiovascular disease. The core facility was provide expert resources to the Research Center faculty and Advisory Committee in the development of a prioritized research agenda in cardiovascular disease. The core facility will provide expert resources to the Research Center faculty and Advisory Committee in the development of a prioritized research agenda in cardiovascular complementary and alternative medicine. The core faculty will be available for teaching research methods in the Center's Career Development Activities. The DMSA will foster high quality collaborative CAM cardiovascular investigations. The results of these studies will have the credibility upon which sound conclusions can be drawn and prudent clinical decisions can be made. Specifically, the DMSA core will provide centralized oversight of research design, consultation on project implementation, data management, biostatistical support. This is particularly integral to Research Center Projects, which will often be conceived of an proposed by complementary and alternative practitioners who are less familiar with scientific research design and methods. The DMSA core is essential to the three currently proposed projects, providing a central office for data collection, data entry, data editing, and statistical analysis. The core will provide guidance in forms design, establish databases, monitor the data for missing forms and missing values, perform all data entry with appropriate quality control, provide routine explanatory statistics for relevant variables on request, provide in-depth statistical analysis of project data on request, provide statistical collaboration for manuscripts and abstracts, and provide consulting for design of new projects.
