Step 1: Frame Your Question.
Step 2: Structure Your Search.
To find quantitative information about a therapy, harm, diagnosis, prognosis (for example), apply a PICO framework. This is good for questions such as “what interventions have been shown to reduce the risk of alcoholoism in adolescents,”
To find qualitative information or information for a question that does not focus on an intervention use a PEO framework. This is useful for questions such as “what are the experiences of mothers with breast cancer”.
Why bother with this stuff?
Going through these steps to structure your search will save you time because you will be searching in a more efficient manner.
Step 3: Gather Synonyms & Subject Headings.
Step 4: Search Relevant Databases.
Hint! There's a list of selected databases on the left side of this page.
