A structured series that builds research skills step by step — starting with the decision that shapes everything else: the research question.
Focus on PICOT, with an introduction to PEO, SPIDER, PICo, and ECLIPSE. The anchor lesson of the series.
Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time — applied to real clinical questions.
Match the framework to the question type and study approach.
How the question drives observational, experimental, or review designs.
Selecting an appropriate test by outcome type and data structure.
Reading results with both statistical and clinical relevance in mind.
What each measure means and when to use it.
Recognising threats to validity and how to address them.
Interpreting coefficients, intervals, and model outputs.
Interpreting and reporting findings for publication.
A strong research question determines the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and publication strategy. Not every question uses the same framework — Lesson 1 shows you how to choose.
Interventions and comparative clinical questions.
Exposure and observational questions.
Qualitative and mixed-methods questions.
Qualitative, context-based questions.
Service evaluation questions.
See a full PICOT question built from a clinical scenario.