השוואת שיטות

	תכנון "אחרי מעשה" בסיוע סימולציה	מחקר עוקבה רטרוספקטיבי
תחום	תכנון מחקר	אפידמיולוגיה
משפחה	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
שנת המקור	Ex post facto: 1964; simulation-assisted hybrid: 1990s–2000s	Mid-20th century (widely formalized 1950s–1970s)
הוגה השיטה	Kerlinger, F. N. (ex post facto basis); simulation integration drawn from computational social science (Axelrod, Epstein, 1990s)	Systematic use attributed to early 20th-century occupational epidemiology; formalized in modern epidemiological theory by Brian MacMahon and others
סוג	Non-experimental observational design with computational augmentation	Observational analytic study
מקור מכונן	Kerlinger, F. N. (1964). Foundations of Behavioral Research. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.	Rothman, K. J., Greenland, S., & Lash, T. L. (2008). Modern Epidemiology (3rd ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN: 978-0781755641
כינויים	simulation-enhanced causal-comparative design, ex post facto with simulation, retrospective simulation design, SAEPF design	historical cohort study, non-concurrent cohort study, retrospective follow-up study, historical prospective study
קשורות	4	6
תקציר	Simulation-assisted ex post facto design is a non-experimental observational approach in which the researcher examines already-occurred events or conditions using existing records and then supplements the empirical analysis with computational simulation to approximate counterfactual scenarios that cannot be observed in reality. The design retains the retrospective, naturalistic character of classic ex post facto research while leveraging agent-based, Monte Carlo, or system-dynamics simulation to address the inherent confound limitations of purely archival work.	A retrospective cohort study assembles a group of individuals who share a common starting point and reconstructs their exposure history and subsequent outcomes entirely from pre-existing records. Because the data have already been collected before the study begins, the design is far faster and cheaper than a prospective cohort; however, the researcher must work with whatever information was recorded at the time rather than collecting purpose-built measurements.