Call to Action
The element of an advertisement which indicates to the audience what to do next.

Callback (in Market Research)
There are several meanings: A return call to a respondent who was previously unavailable; a second interview within the same research study; or a supervisor check that the interviewer has conducted the interview properly.

Campaign
Organized course of action, planned to achieve predetermined objectives. Can relate to any part of the promotional mix, i.e. advertising, sales promotion, public relations.

CANDA
Computerized Assisted New Drug Application. NDA submitted on CD-ROM and/or other electronic media.

Cannibalization
Sales achieved for a particular brand at the expense of another brand within the same company.

Cap
The maximum amount of resource use allowed in a plan over a period of time; a managed care concept.

CAPI
Computer-Aided Personal Interviewing. The interviewer conducts the interview using a computer-based questionnaire.

Capitation
A cost-containment mechanism whereby payments for healthcare services are prospectively paid for based on actuarial projection of expected resource utilization rates for a pre-determined patient population.

Cash Cow
A well-established product which is generating substantial revenue in excess of costs whilst retaining market share. i.e. high market share in a low growth market. (see also Product Positioning)

CATI
Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing. The interviewer conducts the telephone interview using a computer-based questionnaire.

Causal Research (see Research Studies)

Census
A study of all units in the population (universe), e.g. all oncology nurses.

Central Location (in Market Research)
A facility (usually hired) for conveniently conducting market research interviews. Central locations tend to be used to bring a number of respondents together, either for a series of individual interviews or for a focus group. Central locations often incorporate a viewing facility.
(see also Viewing Facility)

Centralized Procedure
A European process for new drug application, using a selected country in which to conduct the application. The country selected is called the Rapporteur.

Characteristics Based Segmentation (see Segmentation)

Chi Square Test
A statistical test of the significance of differences between categorical variables used to determine whether some observed patterns of frequencies correspond to an expected pattern.

Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) (see Discrete Choice Methods)

Claims Data Collection
The retrieval of resource use information from records of insurance company claims in order to compare healthcare costs incurred by different patient populations with a given illness.

Cluster Analysis
Cluster analysis is an exploratory tool designed to reveal natural groupings within a collection of data. It is often used to describe a process of grouping together similar respondents on the basis of demographics, product usage or attitudes. There are two broad types of clustering:

• Criterion Based (or a priori) - The aim of criterion-based segmentation is usually to build a predictive model. This may be to predict product usage or likelihood to use a new product based on physician characteristics and attitudes. Criterion-based techniques are sometimes thought of as a separate entity to cluster analysis.
• Non Criterion Based - Non-criterion based clustering (the type typically known as cluster analysis) aims to determine naturally occurring segments of the population. It is often applied to data from rating scales designed to measure physicians' attitudes.

(see also Segmentation and Discriminant Analysis)

Cluster Sampling (see Sampling Methods)

CME
Continuing Medical Education. US doctors must acquire a minimum number and category of credits in order to stay in practice. Used as a marketing medium for independent communications.

Co Marketing
Where the same product is marketed (co promoted) by two different companies but as different brands.

Co Payment
Requirement for patients in some countries to pay some part of treatment costs, usually pharmaceuticals.

Co Promotion
Where the same product is promoted (co-marketed) as different brands by two different companies.

Coding (in Market Research)
The process of allocating numerical codes. Usually this refers to post-coding, where open-ended questions have to be coded after the completion of fieldwork. Pre-coding refers to the allocation of codes (for anticipated responses) before fieldwork begins.

• Code - A symbol (usually a number) used to classify data so that it can be analyzed efficiently.
• Bracket Code - A code which represents two or more answers to a question, e.g. a single code used for any answer in a numerical range (e.g. a diastolic blood pressure of 100-105 mmHg).
• Code Frame (Coding Frame) - The structured set of codes used in post-coding, which group and categorize the list of open ended (verbatim) answers to a single question (usually).
• Columning - The process of adding codes into a structured questionnaire.

Columning (see Coding)

Communication Plan
A written plan describing the message a company wishes to portray about itself or its products. This should be a direct reflection of the overall business plan and should aim to assist in answering business objectives. The content can be broken down into sections; objectives, issues, strategy, target audiences, message evolution, timetable, media, budget, measurement and resources.

Compliance (in a Patient)
Adherence of patients to medical advice, prescriptions and recommendations during a treatment program or clinical investigation.

Compound
A substance obtained by chemical synthesis or from natural sources undergoing pre-clinical testing for its biological activities.

Concept
Abstract descriptions of potential product profile for testing, or potential theme of advertising campaign.

Conclusive Research (see Research Studies)

Confidence Limits

Conjoint Analysis
Derived form Considered Jointly. A market research methodology which interprets measures preferences and trade-offs across different products based on their stated attributes and performance against those attributes. (see also Discrete Choice Methods)

Construct Validity (of HRQoL Measure)
The magnitude and direction of associations between observed scores of a measure and other theoretically related measures or constructs.

Content Analysis (see Analysis)

Content Validity
Extent to which a measure relates to the range of attributes that make up the concept (or construct) it purports to measures.

Contingency Plan
Part of the marketing plan which attempts to anticipate and make provision for all eventualities, both negative and positive.

Contingent Valuation
An economic approach to valuing the benefits of treatments through surveys of individual opinions on the pecuniary amount they are willing to pay for an outcome; also known as willingness-to-pay study.

Continuous Research (see Research Studies)

Control Group
Identical sample to one which is exposed to experimental stimuli, but to which no stimuli are given. The reaction of this group can then be compared with the group subjected to the stimuli.

Control Question
Used in a questionnaire as a hidden means of checking the validity of answers to other questions.

Correlation
The interdependence between attributes or variables, particularly the relationship between the values or ranks of two variables.

Correlation Coefficient
A measure of the degree of linear association between 2 or more interval scaled or continuous variables.

Cost Benefit Analysis
A type of health economic evaluation in which both costs and consequences are expressed in monetary units.

Cost Effectiveness Analysis
A form of socio-economic evaluation in which treatments or approaches to healthcare are appraised based on their costs (in monetary units) and the consequences or outcomes measured in natural (or physical) units such as number of lives saved, number of event-free days or years of life saved.

Cost Effectiveness Ratio
A summary measure in cost-effectiveness analysis expressed as relative cost per unit of health outcome.

Cost Minimization Analysis
A method of health economic evaluation that seeks to identify the least costly between two or more alternatives that are known or assumed to be of equivalent effectiveness.

Cost of Illness Study
A descriptive health economic study involving an appraisal of direct and indirect costs of a disease entity. A term usually employed when burden-of illness studies are performed from the societal perspective. Also referred to as Burden of illness study.

Cost / QALY Ratio
Way of expressing cost-effectiveness when doing cost-utility type of analysis.

Cost Utility Analysis
A form of cost-effectiveness analysis in which consequences or outcomes expressed in terms of patient or community preferences for health states in addition to natural units such as. life-years saved. The summary measure that results from this analysis is cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY).

Crisis Management
Production of procedures to follow in case of a crisis to minimalize damage to the reputation of a company and its products or services.

Criterion Validity
Extent to which the scores of a health status measure are related to those of another known (a priori 'gold-standard') measure of the same health status attributes. Considered in psychometrics to be the ultimate test of validity of a health status/quality of life measure.

Critical Path
Technique to assist planning by scheduling actions and timings in order to ensure that a project or campaign happens at the right time.

CRO
Contract Research Organization. A company contracted out to perform clinical trials for a pharmaceutical company. (see also SMO)

Cross Over
A feature of a clinical trial design in which patients receive both types of interventions (active drug and placebo) under study in a randomized sequential order.

Cross Sectional
A study conducted out at a single point in time for the purpose of describing or comparing populations for defined clinical or non-clinical parameters. Population surveys are typically of a cross-sectional design.

Cross Tab or Cross Tabulation (see Tables)

Current Best Practice
Optimal treatment for each disease according to best present day standards.

Customer
Person or organization making the purchasing decision. The customer is not necessarily the end-user of the product or service. The customer could be a physician, pharmacist, nurse, care giver, patient, payor, or other individual.

Customer Segmentation (see Segmentation)