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Causes of the rarity of application-tailored simulation studies in medical research

Determine whether insufficient time resources and/or limited expertise in simulation methodology among study statisticians are major factors explaining why application-specific simulation studies are rarely conducted in medical research projects.

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Background

The paper argues that simulation studies can substantially aid applied statisticians in selecting appropriate methods for their specific studies, yet such simulations are seldom performed within medical research projects. The authors note perceptions of complexity and communication constraints as potential barriers.

They explicitly conjecture that a primary reason for this rarity is the limited time resources and lack of deep expertise in simulation methodology among paper statisticians. Establishing the extent to which these factors drive the observed shortfall would clarify the main obstacles to broader adoption and inform targeted interventions (e.g., training, tooling).

References

We conjecture, however, that the lack of time resources and/or the lack of deep expertise on simulation methodology from the side of many study statisticians play a major role.

— Bridging the Gap Between Methodological Research and Statistical Practice: Toward "Translational Simulation Research (2510.05800 - Boulesteix et al., 7 Oct 2025) in Section 1 (Background)