•Is an epidemiological approach appropriate to the problem under study? What alternative methods would also help to resolve the problem?
•What is the study design and is it suitable for the problem addressed?
•Are the date or time period over which data were collected given?
•For conditions which have a cyclical pattern, has the timing of measurements been stated? For example, for blood pressure the timing needed may be time of day, time of week, month, and season.