Subject Guides: Reviewing the literature: Resources and references

Resources

Question formulation and searching for qualitative evidence Dr Andrew Booth from Cochrane presents two videos (1) question formulations (including search frameworks), and (2) Searching for qualitative evidence (includes discussion about various qualitative search frameworks). There is also a link to a pdf of the presentation slides.

SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new window SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods links over 175,000 pages of SAGE’s renowned book, journal and reference content with truly advanced search and discovery tools. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.

Asking focussed questions for systematic reviews Example of using the PICO method from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine.
Define the question (University of South Australia) Includes information about the importance of formulating a good research question including types of questions, and frameworks.
How to write a research question The Writing Centre, George Mason University
JBI systematic reviews JBI manual for evidence synthesis: Chapter 1: Systematic reviews
Systematic review scope and questions (Cochrane) Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions: Part 2: Core methods: Chapter 2: Determining the scope of the review and the questions it will address
Why the research question is so important Advice from the Ingham Institute Applied Medical Research relevant to clinical research questions. Watch the video linked on this page.
Forming focused questions with PICO: Other question frameworks Suggested frameworks for quantitative/clinical and qualitative research questions.
Research question frameworks (Federation University) PICO, ECLIPSE, SPICE, BONAPARTE
Research question frameworks (University of Maryland) University of Maryland's systematic review subject guide provides information about many types of research question frameworks in various disciplines.
Research questions and frameworks (James Cook University) James Cook University's systematic reviews subject guide includes material on various types of research questions and frameworks from various disciplines and includes example research questions.

There are many different types of research questions in both quantitative and qualitative research. The resources below discuss them in more detail with example research questions.

Formulation of research question and composing study outcomes and objectives
Getting started in research: Research questions, supervisors and literature reviews
The Research question in clinical Practice: A guideline for its formulation
Teaching EBP: Asking searchable, answerable clinical questions
Types of research questions: Descriptive, predictive, or causal
Formulating qualitative research questions PerSPEcTiF framework for qualitative research questions. See Tables 1 and 2 for an explanation and a worked example. Source: Booth, A., Noyes, J., Flemming, K., Moore, G., Tunçalp, Ö., & Shakibazadeh, E. (2019). Formulating questions to explore complex interventions within qualitative evidence synthesis [Supplemental material]. BMJ Global Health, 4, Article e001107. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001107

References

Alves, C. (2018). Research methodology: How to maximize your research potential. EFORT Open Review, 3(5), 184-191. https://doi.org/10.1302/2058-5241.3.170065

Booth, A., Noyes, J., Flemming, K., Moore, G., Tunçalp, Ö., & Shakibazadeh, E. (2019). Formulating questions to explore complex interventions within qualitative evidence synthesis [Supplemental material]. BMJ Global Health, 4, Article e001107. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001107

Bowman, J., Mogensen, L., Marsland, E., & Lannin, N. (2015). The development, content validity and inter-rater reliability of the SMART-Goal Evaluation Method: A standardised method for evaluating clinical goals. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 62(6), 420-427. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.12218

Cañón, M., & Buitrago-Gómez, Q. (2018). The Research question in clinical Practice: A guideline for its formulation. Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatria, 47(3), 193-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcp.2016.06.004

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. (2021). Asking focussed questions. https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/resources/ebm-tools/asking-focused-questions

Dhir, S. K., & Gupta, P. (2021). Formulation of research question and composing study outcomes and objectives. Indian pediatrics, 58(6), 584-588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-021-2246-y

Doody, O., & Bailey, M. E. (2016). Setting a research question, aim and objective. Nurse Researcher, 23(4), 19-23. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.23.4.19.s5

Doran, G. T. (1981). There's a SMART Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives. Management Review 70, 35-36. http://www.amanet.org/

Fandino, W. (2019). Formulating a good research question: Pearls and pitfalls. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 63(8), 611-616. https://doi.org/10.4103/ija.IJA_198_19

Mattick, K., Johnston, J., & de la Croix, A. (2018). How to … write a good research question. The Clinical Teacher, 15(2), 104-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.12776

Tricco, A. C., Tetzlaff, J., & Moher, D. (2011). The art and science of knowledge synthesis. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 64(1), 11-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.11.007