Evidence Synthesis, Systematic Review Services : Develop Your Research Question

In order to conduct an effective systematic review (or evidence synthesis), your team will need to express their research topic as a discrete, focused statement or question. There are a variety of acronyms/mnemonics that have been employed within disciplines to help frame, or describe, the essential components of the research question. Generally speaking, these essential components are the who, what, where, when, and how of your research. Take care, as your team refines their research topic or question, to not introduce bias by presupposing the effects of interventions on outcomes. For example, rather than "does x improve y", consider rephrasing as "how does x effect y".

"PICO", "PECO", or "PICOS" and its variants are among the more popular frames (or frameworks) that lend themselves flexibly to a variety of disciplines. 

P = Patient or Person or Population or Problem
I E = Intervention or phenomena of Interest or Improvement or Exposure
C = Comparison or Control
O = Outcomes
S = Study type(s)

The essential components identified by PICO can help inform the search strategies your team applies to the research literature databases. 

Helpful resources:

• Livoreil, B., Glanville, J., Haddaway, N.R. et al. Systematic searching for environmental evidence using multiple tools and sources. Environmental Evidence 6, 23 (2017). Open Access
   
• Booth, A., Noyes, J., Flemming, K. et.al. Formulating Questions to Explore Complex Interventions within Qualitative Evidence Synthesis. BMJ Global Health, 4, Supp 1 (2019). Open Access

  Note: See chart of frameworks within its supplemental material, "Rapid Review of Existing Question Formulation Frameworks". 

• Systematic Reviews: Formulate Your Question (University of Bath, library guide to "Systematic Reviews")

  See worked examples of frameworks, SPIDER, SPICE (in addition to PICO) and that are used in the health sciences and social sciences, education.

Do free bus passes reduce social isolation in people aged 65 and over?

P = people aged 65 and over
I = free public transport
C = none | no transport service
O = reduced social isolation
S = qualitative or quantitative studies

In C3 and C4 plants in elevated CO2 conditions, how does the presence of N fertilizer affect N acquisition?

P = C3 and C4 plants in elevated atmospheric CO2
I = N fertilizer
C = absence of N fertilizer
O = N acquisition

What is the effect of small-scale pumped irrigation systems versus no intervention on average yield, irrigated area, labor demand, energy need, farm income, and food security for smallholder farmers?

P = smallholder farmers
I = small-scale, pumped irrigation systems
C = no intervention
O = average yield, irrigated area, labor demand, energy need, farm income, food security