Research in primary dental care Part 2: Developing a research question

Abstract

The first step in planning and conducting any research is identifying the research question, that is a testable statement of the question which the research aims to answer. In this article three distinct types of research question are identified: Descriptive questions (for example Who? What? Where? When?); Questions of relationships (How are two or more things related?); Questions of comparison (often these questions will ask about cause and effect). Examples are given of each type of research question. The process of devising a research question is described, in particular searching for relevant information, and evaluating the quality of the information obtained. A list of useful resources is provided. • In order to develop the research question, a careful exploration of previous research should be conducted. This article identifies several useful resources to assist the general dental practitioner in undertaking this task.

The retrospective chart review: important methodological considerations

“…Questions of relationship ask how phenomena are related to one another [10]. As an example, we might pose the question, “What is the relationship between occupational burnout and suicide ideation among medical residents in the Northeast United States?” To answer this question, we would likely gather burnout and suicide ideation scores from the population of interest and then calculate a correlation coefficient to quantify this relationship.…”

Periodontal research: Basics and beyond - part I (defining the research problem, study design and levels of evidence)

“…form the essential parts of questions of description, where usually certain descriptions of phenomenon are dealt with. [1] Examples of the types of studies which use descriptive questions would include factors responsible for dental practitioners’ preference of antibiotics and inclusion of metronidazole in the treatment of periodontal abscess or attitudes of pregnant women toward their oral hygiene during pregnancy or the prevalence of periodontitis among smokers in a given population.…”

“…[1] Examples of such studies would include, studies pertaining to periodontal medicine (stress and periodontitis, adverse pregnancy outcomes and periodontitis, etc), studies pertaining to various risk factors and periodontal disease, e.g., smoking and periodontitis.…”

“…For example, if we give one individual (or group of individuals) a particular treatment, does that improve their outcome in comparison to an individual (or group of individuals) who did not receive that treatment? [1] The PICO question is a gold standard in all studies related to clinical comparative studies. The parts of a well-built research question (PICO question) includes Patient/population/problem (P), Intervention (I), Comparison (C), and Outcome (O).…”