Research Design and Analysis Core

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The Research Design and Analysis Core (RDAC) of the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (KIDDRC) plays a central role by providing consultative and collaborative support within the realms of research design, data collection and management, and state-of-the-art quantitative methods for clinical and preclinical experimental studies relevant to intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Along with providing KIDDRC investigators with the best and most current tools for analyzing and interpreting their data, RDAC serves the critical role of ensuring that KIDDRC research programs maintain the very highest standards of data reproducibility, rigor, and transparency. Hence, the long-standing mission of the RDAC comports well with new NIH guidelines regarding data integrity. RDAC ensures that KIDDRC Investigators are positioned to meet new requirements mandated by the NIH (https://www.nih.gov/research-training/rigor- reproducibility), and by the top journals in the field. The overall objective of RDAC is to guide KIDDRC investigators in implementing optimal research design, efficient data collection and management, and state-of- the-art analytical methods to ensure the highest standards of rigor, transparencyc and reproducibility. To accomplish this objective, RDAC staff will provide KIDDRC investigators with: tools and information necessary to ensure that experiments and studies are optimally designed, high-quality data collection and management services, and state-of-the-art statistical and bioinformatical analytical tools to advance KIDDRC research programs. Over the last few years, the RDA has evolved into a proactive support unit that is more closely associated with, or even embedded into KIDDRC research programs. This interactive model serves to educate KIDDRC investigators on quantitative issues on an individual level throughout the course of their projects, thus allowing investigators to make dynamic adjustments to projects as necessary, and to help investigators maintain progress on their research, thus facilitating more timely reports and presentations. The RDAC also serves a generative function in providing guidance on leveraging new quantitative methods, which often leads to new ideas and innovation. Given these functions, the RDAC provides extraordinary value to the Center and has certainly contributed to the fact that, throughout its history, the reputation of the KIDDRC has been spotless with regard to the integrity of its data and has been a major contributor to IDD interventions that have proven to be effective, reliable, and repeatable.