PRF case studies
PRF · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Professional Research Foundations (PRF) credential is designed for people who plan, conduct, oversee, or consume research and need to demonstrate a working command of the full research lifecycle rather than a single technique. Candidates typically include early-career investigators, research coordinators and project managers, data analysts moving into study design, graduate students preparing for independent work, and staff in ethics, quality, or evidence-synthesis roles. The exam samples eight domains: research design and planning; ethics, integrity, and regulatory compliance; literature review and evidence appraisal; measurement, instrumentation, and data collection; quantitative methods and statistical analysis; qualitative and mixed methods; data management, quality, and reproducibility; and reporting, dissemination, and translation of findings. Questions are multiple choice with a single best answer, so preparation should emphasize judgment between defensible options, not memorized trivia. The PRF case studies are 5 cases and about 2,665 words.
1The Pilot That Looked Too Good
A team is planning a 12-month randomized trial of a text-message adherence intervention in 40 community pharmacies. The protocol budgets for a 6-month internal pilot at 4 pharmacies to test recruitment, the consent script, and the outcome-capture app.
556 words, about 3 min2The Registry That Did Not Match the Paper
A systematic review team is screening trials of a wound-care dressing. For one eligible trial, the published paper reports a mean difference of −1.8 days in healing time (95% CI −3.1 to −0.5) with 210 participants.
532 words, about 3 min3Consent Under Time Pressure
An emergency department study tests whether a 10-minute scripted conversation by a research nurse improves follow-up appointment attendance after discharge. Patients are approached during a lull in the waiting room.
571 words, about 3 min4The Interviewer Who Knew the Answer
A qualitative study explores how nurses decide when to escalate a deteriorating patient. The team conducts 24 semi-structured interviews across 3 hospitals.
486 words, about 2 min5The Dataset That Kept Growing
A multi-site cohort study of postoperative complications has been running for 3 years. Each site enters data into a shared spreadsheet stored on a departmental drive.
520 words, about 3 min