A study that examines the causation of a disease is known as what type of study?

A study that focuses on examining the causation of a disease is best categorized as an evaluative study. Evaluative studies are designed to understand not just the presence or characteristics of a disease, but the underlying factors that may contribute to its development. This includes investigating associations between risk factors and disease outcomes, using methodologies that can help identify potential causal relationships.

Causation studies often employ analytical frameworks, such as cohort or case-control studies, which allow researchers to analyze how certain exposures or characteristics may lead to disease outcomes over time. This is in contrast to cross-sectional studies, which provide a snapshot of a population at a particular point in time without determining causal links, and descriptive studies, which primarily aim to describe health conditions within a population. Systematic reviews, while valuable for synthesizing existing research on a topic, do not conduct original research on causal factors but instead assess and compile findings from various studies.

Thus, the classification of the study as evaluative aligns with its goal to unravel the complexities of disease causation and identify risk factors.