A study designed to suggest ideas for future testing, not to confirm a treatment effect.
Describes exploratory research—often small samples, secondary analyses, or observational designs—used to identify patterns or associations worth formal testing, rather than to establish causation or efficacy. Findings from hypothesis-generating studies should not guide clinical practice on their own; they need confirmation in adequately powered, ideally pre-registered, confirmatory studies. The label is sometimes applied loosely (or retrospectively, after a study fails to show a clear result) so it's worth checking whether the design was genuinely exploratory from the outset.
This guide was auto-drafted and is pending editorial review.