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