Developing a Research Question
In Evidence-Based Practice, the formulation of a good clinical question is crucial to your research. The PICO model can help with formulating well-built clinical questions.
P = Patient, Problem, or Population
How would you describe a group of patients similar to you? What are the most important characteristics of the patient?
I = Intervention, Prognostic Factor, or Exposure
What main intervention, prognostic factor, or exposure are you considering? What do you want to do with this patient?
C = Comparison
What is the main alternative to compare with the intervention?
O = Outcome
What are you trying to accomplish, measure, improve, or affect?
Resources
- 7 Steps to the Perfect PICO SearchThis white paper provides an example of the PICO process in action.
PICO(T) Model
A quantitative approach can answer many different types of questions, but all can be formatted by following the PICO(T) Model outlined below:
