Spice up your library instruction with a little PICO

Ellen Welty Sheila Hofstetter

Arizona State University

Francis Bacon1521-1629

“A prudent question is one-half wisdom”

http://www.english-renaissance.com/2010/08/francis-bacon-quotations/

David Sackett1997

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

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.

JAMIA 2001;8:398-399 doi:10.1136/jamia.2001.0080398

2002

Sackett,

Formulating an answerable question is “the hardest step that many people face”.

Sackett, 2000, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice and teach EBM, p. 13

Teaching PICO1997 to 2011

Health Sciences Librarians

Teach PICO in academic and workplace settings

Evidence Based Librarianship2010

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 StudyRecommendations to subject librarians

“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 StudyRecommendations to subject librarians

Modifying in-class sessions and reference encounters to emphasize the research process and formulating 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)

‘CONDUCT USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH’

ASU

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 = OutcomeSackett, 1997, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice & Teach EBM, (p. 27.)http://www.mclibrary.duke.edu/subject/ebm?tab=questiontable

P I C O

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 EBM, ( p. 15 - 18) Melnyk, 2011, Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice, (p. 31)

P I C O

I = identify • Intervention, therapy, treatment, testsOR• Issue of interest

• Diagnoses (select, interpret)• Risk, Prevention – screen, reduce• Exposure• Etiology (Cause/Risk factors)

P I C O

C= Identify•Comparison

• Another intervention

• True control placebo

• Standard operation

• Standard of care

P I C O

O = Identify

•Outcome

•Measurement of comparisons

The Circle of Critical Thinking© 2011 Hofstetter and Welty

*Worldviews Evid Based Nurs, 2005, v.2, n.3, 157-160

Formulating a PICO question:Begin by asking two kinds of questions

Background Question• Asks about general knowledge about a topic including elements:1.Who, what, where, when, why, how and a VERB.2. Lays foundation for PICO.

Straus, 2010, Evidence-based medicine; how to practice and teach EBM, ( p. 15)

Foreground Question• Asks what is Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome.• Formulates research question•Formulates search strategy

PICO Question | Healthcare

Background | 5 WsWhat can prevent falls in elderly?

Foreground | PICOIn elderly at risk of falls (P), how does tai chi (I) compared to risk assessment (C) affect fall prevention/reduction (O)?

PICO Question | Healthcare

ForegroundIn elderly at risk of falls (P), how does tai chi (I) compared to risk assessment (C) affect fall prevention/reduction (O)?

Searches in PubMedSS1 Falls taiSS2 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 EBM, ( p. 15) Melnyk, 2011, Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice, (p. 31)

PICO Question | Biology

Background | 5 WsWhat is causing the disappearance of colonies of bees worldwide?

Foreground | PICOIn colony collapse (P) how do viruses (disease) (I) compared to habitat loss (C) predict the disorder?

PICO Question | Biology

Foreground | PICOIn colony collapse (P) how do (disease) viruses (I) compared with habitat loss (C) predict the disorder (O)?

Searches in ABI/InformSS1: colony collapse AND (virus or habitat)SS2: ti (colony collapse) AND (virus or habitat)

PICO Question | American Literature

Background | 5 WsIn Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn does the racism in post-war southern US affect the plot?

Foreground | PICOIn Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, (P) how does racism (I) compared to anti-racism (C) affect the plot?

PICO Question | American Literature

Foreground | PICOIn Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, (P) how does racism (I) compared to anti-racism (C) affect the plot?

Searches in Humanities FTSS1 Huckleberry Finn AND rac*SS2 Huckleberry Finn [ti] AND rac* [ti]

PICO Question | Business

Background | 5 WsWhat causes rising oil prices?

Foreground | PICOIn rising oil prices (P), how do speculators (I) compared to regulation (C) influence oil prices (O)?

PICO Question | Business

Foreground | PICOIn rising oil prices (P), how do speculators (I) compared to regulation (C) influence the oil prices (O)?

Searches ABI/Inform | Advanced SearchSS1 "oil prices" AND speculat* OR regulat*SS2 ti "oil prices" AND ti speculat*

PICO Question | Aviation

Background | 5 WsHow can airplane landings be made safer?

Foreground | PICOIn airplane landings (P) how does using imaging sensors (I) compared to lights (C) affect safety (O)

PICO Question | Aviation

Foreground | PICOIn airplane landings (P) how does using imaging sensors (I) compared to lights (C) affect safety (O)

Searches in ABI InformLandings AND (sensors or lights)Ti (landings) AND ti (sensors or lights)