Spice up your library instruction
with a little PICO
Ellen Welty
Sheila Hofstetter
Arizona State University
LibGuide
http://libguides.asu.edu/PICO
Ellen Welty
Sheila Hofstetter
Ellen.welty@asu.edu
Sheila.hofstetter@asu.edu
Francis Bacon
1521-1629
“A prudent question is one-half wisdom”
http://www.english-renaissance.com/2010/08/francis-bacon-quotations/
2001 : Public alarm
Medical mistakes are blamed for as many
as 98,000 lost lives annually.
JAMIA 2001;8:398-399 doi:10.1136/jamia.2001.0080398
2001 : Public alarm
Studies show it takes an average of 17 years
to implement clinical research.
JAMIA 2001;8:398-399 doi:10.1136/jamia.2001.0080398
2005: Workplace Readiness
Front line nurses –
•“don’t understand or value research”
•“have received little or no training in the use
of tools to help them find evidence.”
Am J Nurs. 2005 Sep;105(9):40-51;quiz 52.
David Sackett
1997
Sackett, Evidence Based Medicine: How to
Practice and Teach It
Taught that the first information literacy skill is
formulating a research question using PICO.
That is still the first skill taught today
Sackett
2002
Formulating an answerable question is “the
hardest step that many people face”.
Sackett, 2000, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice and teach it, p. 13
Teaching PICO
1997 to 2011
Health Sciences Librarians
Teach PICO in academic and workplace
settings
Evidence Based Librarianship
2010
Project Information Literacy (PIL)
University of Washington
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf
Project Information Literacy (PIL)
The PIL report’s findings revealed that:
•
“defining a research inquiry was overwhelming for students”
•
students “lacked research acumen for framing inquiry”
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf (p.2)
PIL Findings
% of Students experiencing problems
• 84% getting started
• 66% defining a topic
• 62% narrowing the topic
• 61% filtering through irrelevant results
• 46% knowing if job is done
• 37% knowing if finished with process
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf (p.25)
PIL Study
Fundamental Research Competency
“defining a research inquiry is the fundamental research
competency for completing college course
assignments….yet it stymied over two-thirds of the
students in our sample”
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf (p. 38)
PIL Study
Recommendations to [subject] librarians
Modify in-class sessions and reference encounters to
emphasize the research process and formulate a
research question over finding sources.
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf (p. 39)
PIL Study
21st Century Workplace
Are we“assessing how students are being prepared for the
21st century workplace” ?
“Is the campus graduating students with the necessary
information literacy competencies for the 21st century
workplace?”
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf (p. 40)
ASU
‘CONDUCT USE-INSPIRED
RESEARCH’
Google Search
2011
A search for ‘thesis statements LibGuides’
yielded 108,000 results
Common Advice
“Have a good argument.”
“Don’t make your topic too broad or too
narrow.”
Session Objective 1
How do we teach students to formulate a
search question using PICO?
What is PICO?
P I C O
P = Population
I = Intervention
C = Comparison
O = Outcome
Sackett, 1997, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice & Teach It, (p. 27.)
http://www.mclibrary.duke.edu/subject/ebm?tab=questiontable
PICO
P = Identify
•
•
•
•
•
Population w/ (health) condition of interest
Participants
Principal person or thing
Problem
Predicament
Straus, 2010, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice and teach it, ( p. 15 - 18)
Melnyk, 2011, Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice, (p. 31)
P
I CO
I = Identify
Intervention, therapy, treatment, tests
OR
• Issue of interest
•
•
•
•
•
Diagnoses - select, interpret
Risk, prevention – screen, reduce
Etiology – cause, risk factors
Exposure
Prognosis
PI
CO
C = Identify
Comparison
• Another intervention
• True control placebo
• Standard operation
• Standard of care
PIC
O
O = Identify
Outcome
•Measurement of comparisons
The Circle of Critical Thinking
2.
Questioner
Identifies
PICO
1.
Researcher
Identifies
PICO
3. Searcher
Identifies
PICO
“A searchable, answerable
question*”
*Worldviews Evid Based Nurs, 2005,
v.2, n.3, 157-160
© 2011 Hofstetter and Welty
Formulating a PICO question:
Begin by asking two kinds of questions
Background Question
Asks about general topical
elements:
Foreground Question
Asks about research
elements:
1. who, what, where, when,
why, how and a verb.
2. lays foundation for
PICO.
1. what is population,
intervention, comparison,
outcome
2. formulates research
question and search
strategy
Straus, 2010, Evidence-based medicine; how to
practice and teach it, ( p. 15)
PICO Question | Healthcare
Background | 5 Ws
What can prevent falls in elderly?
Foreground | PICO
In elderly at risk of falls (P), how does tai chi (I)
compared to risk assessment (C) affect fall
prevention/reduction (O)?
PICO Question | Healthcare
Foreground
In elderly at risk of falls (P), how does tai chi (I)
compared to risk assessment (C) affect fall
prevention/reduction (O)?
Searches in PubMed
SS1 Falls tai
SS2 Falls [ti] tai [ti]
PICO Question | Across Disciplines
Background | 5 Ws
Foreground | PICO
Who, What
Population, Problem
How, Why
Intervention, Cause
Straus, 2010, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice and teach it, ( p. 15)
Melnyk, 2011, Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice, (p. 31)
PICO Question | Biology
Background | 5 Ws
What is causing the disappearance of colonies
of bees worldwide?
Foreground | PICO
In colony collapse (P) how do viruses (disease)
(I) compared to habitat loss (C) predict the
disorder?
PICO Question | Biology
Foreground | PICO
In colony collapse (P) how do (disease) viruses
(I) compared with habitat loss (C) predict the
disorder (O)?
Searches in ABI/Inform
SS1: colony collapse AND (virus or habitat)
SS2: ti (colony collapse) AND (virus or habitat)
PICO Question | American Literature
Background | 5 Ws
In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
does the racism in post-war southern US affect the
plot?
Foreground | PICO
In Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, (P) how does racism
(I) compared to anti-racism (C) affect the plot?
PICO Question | American Literature
Foreground | PICO
In Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, (P) how does racism
(I) compared to anti-racism (C) affect the plot?
Searches in Humanities FT
SS1 Huckleberry Finn AND rac*
SS2 Huckleberry Finn [ti] AND rac* [ti]
PICO Question | Business
Background | 5 Ws
What causes rising oil prices?
Foreground | PICO
In rising oil prices (P), how do speculators (I)
compared to regulation (C) influence oil prices (O)?
PICO Question | Business
Foreground | PICO
In rising oil prices (P), how do speculators (I)
compared to regulation (C) influence the oil prices
(O)?
Searches ABI/Inform | Advanced Search
SS1 "oil prices" AND speculat* OR regulat*
SS2 ti "oil prices" AND ti speculat*
PICO Question | Aviation
Background | 5 Ws
How can airplane landings be made safer?
Foreground | PICO
In airplane landings (P) how does using imaging
sensors (I) compared to lights (C) affect safety (O)
PICO Question | Aviation
Foreground | PICO
In airplane landings (P) how does using imaging
sensors (I) compared to lights (C) affect safety (O)
Searches in ABI Inform
Landings AND (sensors or lights)
Ti (landings) AND ti (sensors or lights)
PICO Question | Aviation
Questions?
LibGuide
http://libguides.asu.edu/PICO
Ellen Welty
Sheila Hofstetter
Ellen.welty@asu.edu
Sheila.hofstetter@asu.edu