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How to formulate an answerable
research question?
Using the PICO model to formulate a search question
Hierarchy of Evidence
Why are research questions important?
“Well-crafted questions guide the systematic planning of research. Formulating your questions precisely enables you to design a study with a good chance of answering them.”
-- Light, Singer, Willett, By Design (1990)
Start at the beginning
A good research project generally begins in the mind of the doctor.
Most research questions are too broad at first. The narrower the focus, the easier the question is to research.
An example of a research question …
“What is the usefulness or accuracy of the current 1-10 pain scale assessment in treating a patient’s pain, and what are other options that may prove more useful?”
Is this question researchable?
Characteristics of a Good Study Question
“FINER”F= Feasible
I= Interesting
N= Novel
E= Ethical
R= Relevant
Asking “the Question”
The PICO format:
P Population
I Intervention or Interest area
C Comparison intervention or status
O Outcome
What is PICO?
A useful model to help structure an answerable question
Used to formulate clinical questions
Breaks down the question into four key elements
Patient, Population, Problem
Patient or patient group (gender, race, age)
Disease or condition
Stage of the illness
Care setting
Intervention
Type of treatment (drug, procedure, therapy)
Intervention level (dosage, frequency)
Stage of intervention (preventative, early, advanced)
Delivery (who delivers the intervention? where?)
Comparison
Alternative interventions (standard treatment, placebo, another intervention)
There may not always be a comparison
OutcomeThe outcome or effects you
are interested in, for example
Improvement of symptoms, healing
Side effects
Improved quality of life
Cost effectiveness and benefits for the service provider
Remember… Including more search terms will
narrow your search Use for very specific questions and
larger databases to make number of results more manageable
For a broader search, less specific details are neededUse for broader questions and smaller
databases which bring back fewer results
A good research question will…
be clearly linked to overall project goal
allow the target population to be identified
guide the appropriate choice of study subjects
identify the outcome variables and key predictors of those variables
determine what type of study is needed (e.g. descriptive, relational, experimental)
identify background characteristics that might influence outcomes
A good research question will…
raise questions about how to best collect data
influence the number of participants in the study
A good research question will…
Is it interesting?
Is it researchable?
Is it significant?
Is it manageable?
Poorly formulated question:
What drugs should be used to treat patients with neck wounds?
Identifying the key concepts
Example search scenario:
What evidence is there to support “honey” therapy for the treatment of neck wound dehiscense rather than conventional debridement therapies?
What evidence is there to support “honey” therapy for the treatment of neck wound dehiscense rather than conventional debridement therapies?
Using the PICO model P Neck wound
dehiscence(problem)
I Honey therapy (proposed intervention)
C Conventional debridement therapies (comparative treatment)
O Wound healing (outcome)
How to formulate an answerable
research question?
Using the PICO model to formulate a search question