INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT OUTLINE AND PROJECT PROPOSALS 20/09/16

Question 1

How do you search for descriptive and analytical research?

Answer 1

• PECOS

- defines search terms used in research literature searches:

Question 2

What does PECOS stand for?

Answer 2

P - patient/participant/people

E - exposure, event, experimental intervention

C - comparison - if appropriate

O - outcome

S - study design - appropriate for question

Question 3

How do you locate studies with specific designs? (3)

Answer 3

1. free text searching using appropriate search terms
2. using controlled vocabulary which is PECOS appropriate
3. using methodological design with PECOS filters/limits

Question 4

What are examples of free text searching using appropriate search terms? (3)

Answer 4

1. study design classification
   - audit
   - service evaluation
   - research
2. design nomenclature
   - cross-sectional
   - case control
   - cohort
   - trial
3. design components
   - prospective
   - retrospective
   - representative
   - random
   - matched
   - control
   - double blind
   - phase i-iv
   - placebo

Question 5

What do controlled vocabularies allow you to search and who by? (2)

Answer 5

• for studies whose PECOS have been classified/categorised

- by authors, journals and/or database

Question 6

What is MESH and what does it stand for and how many terms does it have?

Answer 6

• a controlled vocabulary thesaurus which Medline has
• it stands for Medical subject headings
• > 25,000 terms

Question 7

What has been used to deal with variation in searching technique and in cataloguing practices?

Answer 7

specialist methodological or research design search filters