Problem identification and finding the evidence

Assessment Item 1: Problem identification and finding the evidence
Weight: 10% of overall mark for the subject

Submission: 4pm Friday 20th March 2015, through Turnitin portal in UTS Online. No paper submission is required.

Task: Students are to develop a question to address the area of uncertainty, and demonstrate their ability to use the PICO or PS framework, and document a systematic methods to search literature. Students should complete the worksheet provided and document their searchable question, key search terms and evidence of their database search (i.e using MEDLINE, CINAHL or Scopus).

Instructions
This assignment will build on your learning during Weeks 1 and 2 of the semester.  During face to face session 1 and preparation activities (including the library session) you will learn what a PICO is, how to create one, why we use it, and how it helps us in developing research that is relevant to the clinical world.

In this assessment you will provide evidence of your learning on using PICO / PS and building a systematic literature search.

1.    Identify your own situation of practice that presents uncertainty of best practice.
2.    Complete the attached PICO/ PS  worksheet to plan for your systematic database search.
3.    Using the information from your PICO/ PSWorksheet write down your Search Strategy in the attached worksheet (please do this in Microsoft Word and not by hand).
4.    Enter your search into Medline, Scopus or CINAHL using skills you have learnt in the Online Library Study Guide and the information in your Search Strategy Worksheet. (remember to keep these to just your main topics headings as using too many different terms might result in your missing key papers).
5.    Take a picture (screenshot) of your search and paste it into the section in the worksheet below (example on page 3).

Marking Criteria
Develops PICO or PS and search terms (5 marks)
•    Determines elements of PICO/ PS relevant to the chosen scenario 1 mark).
•    Converts the question into a succinct and searchable PICO/ PS format relevant to the given scenario (1 mark)
•    Identifies appropriate main and alternative search terms (2 marks)
•    Identifies appropriate limits for the search, if appropriate (gender, age range, publication dates, and/ or language) (1 mark)
Applies a systematic search of the literature(5 marks)
•    TransfersPICO/ PSterms into the systematic search plan with terms grouped in a logical order (1 mark)
•    Appropriately combines the search using ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ Boolean operators (2 mark).
•    Accurately transfers search to the Medline/ Scopus or CINAHL database according the planned search strategy (1 mark).
•    Provides a legible screenshot/screengrab as evidence of the search in Medline, Scopus or CINAHL(1 mark).

ASSESSMENT ONE: SUBMISSION TEMPLATE

Please complete your assessment activities in the following pages and submit this into Turnitin:
•    PICO or PS Worksheet
•    Search Strategy Worksheet
•    A picture (must be readable!) of your systematic literature search in Medline

PICO or PS Worksheet
Select only 1 – either PICO or PS (PICO for Quantitative situation type questions, or PS for qualitative situation type questions) You may delete the framework you have not used from the worksheet.

My situation of uncertainty of best practice related to a:
** Quantitative type of question: I have completed the PICO question?
** Qualitative type of question: I have completed the PS question ?

QUANTITATIVE TYPE
1. Use the following categories to help define your problem and what you are looking at in simple terms
PICO: Patient/Problem, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome. (Quantitative situation)
(remember to use  your readings to help you if you are unsure)
Patient/Problem:  _______________________________________________________________
Intervention:  __________________________________________________________________
Comparison:  __________________________________________________________________
Outcome:  ____________________________________________________________________

2. Now use these terms from the question above to create your PICO research questionso that you have a clear purpose for your search:

3. What type of question do you think this PICO answers?

QUALITATIVE TYPE
1. Use the following categories to help define your problem and what you are looking at in simple terms
PS Patient/Problem, Situation. (Qualitative situation)
(remember to use  your readings to help you if you are unsure)
Patient/Problem:  _______________________________________________________________
Situation:  __________________________________________________________________

2. Now use these terms from the question above to create your PS research questionso that you have a clear purpose for your search:

3. What type of question do you think this PS answers?

4. The table below will help you to think of the other terms that you might also like to look up when searching for evidence to help you answer your question – this is part of basic planning for a research search.

•    We ask you to look up alternative terms because sometimes articles from health systems call things different names – for example, in Australia we sometimes us the term ‘community nurses’, but in the UK they often talk about ‘district nurses’ – if you only searched under ‘district nurse’ you’d miss all the articles which used the other term – you would be missing some of the picture!

QUANTITATIVE QUESTION (Delete as appropriate)

Population
Intervention
Comparison
(not commonly used in actual database search strategy)    Outcome
(not commonly used in actual database search strategy)
What is your population? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is your intervention? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is your comparison? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is you’re outcome? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

QUALITATIVE QUESTION (Delete as appropriate)
Population
Situation
What is your population? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is your intervention? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

5. Is there a particular group of people that you want to look at? List here any inclusion criteria you might use to refine your search if you have too many papers:

Gender:  ______________________________     Age Range:  ___________________________
Publication Dates:  ______________________     Language:  ____________________________

6. What kind of study do you think would best answer your question? Select here which type of article you might want to access. You can also use these to refine your search if you have a lot of papers.
?  Systematic Review
?  Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
?  Cohort Study
?  Case-control Study/Case Series         ?  Qualitative Study
?  Economic Evaluation
? Clinical Practice Guidelines

Systematic Search Plan (this is what we call a Search Strategy)
7. Now that you have decided on WHAT you will be searching, you need to put down a plan of HOW you will search for your articles. This helps you and others to see how you got your evidence and how you made sure you got the best evidence to help you decide on your clinical action.
•    Using the PICO terms in your table, enter each term in a row (group them together under the PICO categories).
•    The next step is to combine similar terms using ‘OR’ so that you have all the papers on the same topic together
•    The final step is to find papers which only talk about both the population AND the intervention. To do this you use ‘AND’ in the database.
Key terms:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14    __ OR___OR___OR___ (combine alternate terms for same topic)
15    __ OR___OR___OR___ (combine alternate terms for same topic)
16    ____AND____
OR = combine alternate terms for the same topic – to get as many potential papers as possible!
AND = combine the groups of topics to get papers which cover ALL the terms!

8. The final step is to paste in a picture (screenshot/screengrab) of the search that you did in the database. The picture has to be readable!!!
In providing this you show your marker that you are able to take your strategy and apply this into a database system. You also show us that you understand the systematic approach to searching and your understanding of how to use OR and AND as tools to draw together the articles you are interested in. You can use limits, but you would only do this if you wanted to refine your search because you had too many papers to search through.
Example of a screen shot. Yours should look something like this:

Assessment Task 1: PICO/ PS Marking Matrix
(10 marks towards overall subject grade)
Develops PICO/ PS and search terms (5 marks)    Unsatisfactory    Pass    Credit    Distinction    High Distinction
•    Determines elements of PICO/ PS relevant to the chosen scenario (1 marks).
•    Converts the question into a succinct and searchable PICO/ PS format relevant to the given scenario (1 mark)
•    Identifies appropriate main and alternative search terms (2 marks)
•    Identifies appropriate limits for the search, if appropriate (gender, age range, publication dates, and/ or language) (1 mark)    Superficial and insufficient completion of the PICO/ PS elements and research question and search terms worksheet.    Basic statement of PICO/ PS elements with some elements incorrect or not present. Limited understanding of search development process.    Clear statement of PICO/ PS elements showing satisfactory understanding of search development process.    Clear and appropriate statement of PICO/ PS elements demonstrating more than satisfactory understanding of search development process.    Clear and appropriate statement of PICO/ PS elements to a superior level, demonstrating superior understanding of search development process.
Applies a systematic search of the literature (5 marks)    Unsatisfactory    Pass    Credit    Distinction    High Distinction
•    Transfers PICO/ PS terms into the systematic search plan with terms grouped in a logical order (1 mark)
•    Appropriately combines the search using ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ Boolean operators (2 marks).
•    Accurately transfers search to the Medline database according the planned search strategy (1 mark).
•    Provides a legible screenshot/screengrab as evidence of the search in Medline/ Scopus or CINAHL(1 mark).    Application of search strategy inaccurate and screenshot not present.    Basic application of search elements with some elements incorrect or not present. Demonstrates limited understanding of search strategy process. Screen shot present.    Clear application of search elements demonstrating satisfactory understanding of process. Screen shot present.    Clear and appropriate application of search elements demonstrating more than satisfactory understanding of search strategy process. Screen shot present.    Clear and appropriate application of search elements to a superior level, demonstrating superior understanding of search strategy process. Screenshot present.
Overall Grade    Unsatisfactory    Pass    Credit    Distinction    High Distinction
Work showing an unsatisfactory achievement on the overall objectives of the assessment criteria  (0-4.9)    Work showing a satisfactory achievement on the overall objectives of the subject assessment criteria (5-6.4)    Work of good quality on the overall objectives of the assessment criteria (6.5-7.4)    Work of superior quality on the overall objectives of the assessment criteria (7.5-8.4)    Work of outstanding quality on all objectives of the assessment criteria. (8.5-10)

Problem identification and finding the evidence

Assessment Item 1: Problem identification and finding the evidence
Weight: 10% of overall mark for the subject

Submission: 4pm Friday 20th March 2015, through Turnitin portal in UTS Online. No paper submission is required.

Task: Students are to develop a question to address the area of uncertainty, and demonstrate their ability to use the PICO or PS framework, and document a systematic methods to search literature. Students should complete the worksheet provided and document their searchable question, key search terms and evidence of their database search (i.e using MEDLINE, CINAHL or Scopus).

Instructions
This assignment will build on your learning during Weeks 1 and 2 of the semester.  During face to face session 1 and preparation activities (including the library session) you will learn what a PICO is, how to create one, why we use it, and how it helps us in developing research that is relevant to the clinical world.

In this assessment you will provide evidence of your learning on using PICO / PS and building a systematic literature search.

1.    Identify your own situation of practice that presents uncertainty of best practice.
2.    Complete the attached PICO/ PS  worksheet to plan for your systematic database search.
3.    Using the information from your PICO/ PSWorksheet write down your Search Strategy in the attached worksheet (please do this in Microsoft Word and not by hand).
4.    Enter your search into Medline, Scopus or CINAHL using skills you have learnt in the Online Library Study Guide and the information in your Search Strategy Worksheet. (remember to keep these to just your main topics headings as using too many different terms might result in your missing key papers).
5.    Take a picture (screenshot) of your search and paste it into the section in the worksheet below (example on page 3).

Marking Criteria
Develops PICO or PS and search terms (5 marks)
•    Determines elements of PICO/ PS relevant to the chosen scenario 1 mark).
•    Converts the question into a succinct and searchable PICO/ PS format relevant to the given scenario (1 mark)
•    Identifies appropriate main and alternative search terms (2 marks)
•    Identifies appropriate limits for the search, if appropriate (gender, age range, publication dates, and/ or language) (1 mark)
Applies a systematic search of the literature(5 marks)
•    TransfersPICO/ PSterms into the systematic search plan with terms grouped in a logical order (1 mark)
•    Appropriately combines the search using ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ Boolean operators (2 mark).
•    Accurately transfers search to the Medline/ Scopus or CINAHL database according the planned search strategy (1 mark).
•    Provides a legible screenshot/screengrab as evidence of the search in Medline, Scopus or CINAHL(1 mark).

ASSESSMENT ONE: SUBMISSION TEMPLATE

Please complete your assessment activities in the following pages and submit this into Turnitin:
•    PICO or PS Worksheet
•    Search Strategy Worksheet
•    A picture (must be readable!) of your systematic literature search in Medline

PICO or PS Worksheet
Select only 1 – either PICO or PS (PICO for Quantitative situation type questions, or PS for qualitative situation type questions) You may delete the framework you have not used from the worksheet.

My situation of uncertainty of best practice related to a:
** Quantitative type of question: I have completed the PICO question?
** Qualitative type of question: I have completed the PS question ?

QUANTITATIVE TYPE
1. Use the following categories to help define your problem and what you are looking at in simple terms
PICO: Patient/Problem, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome. (Quantitative situation)
(remember to use  your readings to help you if you are unsure)
Patient/Problem:  _______________________________________________________________
Intervention:  __________________________________________________________________
Comparison:  __________________________________________________________________
Outcome:  ____________________________________________________________________

2. Now use these terms from the question above to create your PICO research questionso that you have a clear purpose for your search:

3. What type of question do you think this PICO answers?

QUALITATIVE TYPE
1. Use the following categories to help define your problem and what you are looking at in simple terms
PS Patient/Problem, Situation. (Qualitative situation)
(remember to use  your readings to help you if you are unsure)
Patient/Problem:  _______________________________________________________________
Situation:  __________________________________________________________________

2. Now use these terms from the question above to create your PS research questionso that you have a clear purpose for your search:

3. What type of question do you think this PS answers?

4. The table below will help you to think of the other terms that you might also like to look up when searching for evidence to help you answer your question – this is part of basic planning for a research search.

•    We ask you to look up alternative terms because sometimes articles from health systems call things different names – for example, in Australia we sometimes us the term ‘community nurses’, but in the UK they often talk about ‘district nurses’ – if you only searched under ‘district nurse’ you’d miss all the articles which used the other term – you would be missing some of the picture!

QUANTITATIVE QUESTION (Delete as appropriate)

Population
Intervention
Comparison
(not commonly used in actual database search strategy)    Outcome
(not commonly used in actual database search strategy)
What is your population? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is your intervention? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is your comparison? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is you’re outcome? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

QUALITATIVE QUESTION (Delete as appropriate)
Population
Situation
What is your population? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

What is your intervention? Main search term:

What other terms might have been used?
Alternative search terms:

5. Is there a particular group of people that you want to look at? List here any inclusion criteria you might use to refine your search if you have too many papers:

Gender:  ______________________________     Age Range:  ___________________________
Publication Dates:  ______________________     Language:  ____________________________

6. What kind of study do you think would best answer your question? Select here which type of article you might want to access. You can also use these to refine your search if you have a lot of papers.
?  Systematic Review
?  Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
?  Cohort Study
?  Case-control Study/Case Series         ?  Qualitative Study
?  Economic Evaluation
? Clinical Practice Guidelines

Systematic Search Plan (this is what we call a Search Strategy)
7. Now that you have decided on WHAT you will be searching, you need to put down a plan of HOW you will search for your articles. This helps you and others to see how you got your evidence and how you made sure you got the best evidence to help you decide on your clinical action.
•    Using the PICO terms in your table, enter each term in a row (group them together under the PICO categories).
•    The next step is to combine similar terms using ‘OR’ so that you have all the papers on the same topic together
•    The final step is to find papers which only talk about both the population AND the intervention. To do this you use ‘AND’ in the database.
Key terms:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14    __ OR___OR___OR___ (combine alternate terms for same topic)
15    __ OR___OR___OR___ (combine alternate terms for same topic)
16    ____AND____
OR = combine alternate terms for the same topic – to get as many potential papers as possible!
AND = combine the groups of topics to get papers which cover ALL the terms!

8. The final step is to paste in a picture (screenshot/screengrab) of the search that you did in the database. The picture has to be readable!!!
In providing this you show your marker that you are able to take your strategy and apply this into a database system. You also show us that you understand the systematic approach to searching and your understanding of how to use OR and AND as tools to draw together the articles you are interested in. You can use limits, but you would only do this if you wanted to refine your search because you had too many papers to search through.
Example of a screen shot. Yours should look something like this:

Assessment Task 1: PICO/ PS Marking Matrix
(10 marks towards overall subject grade)
Develops PICO/ PS and search terms (5 marks)    Unsatisfactory    Pass    Credit    Distinction    High Distinction
•    Determines elements of PICO/ PS relevant to the chosen scenario (1 marks).
•    Converts the question into a succinct and searchable PICO/ PS format relevant to the given scenario (1 mark)
•    Identifies appropriate main and alternative search terms (2 marks)
•    Identifies appropriate limits for the search, if appropriate (gender, age range, publication dates, and/ or language) (1 mark)    Superficial and insufficient completion of the PICO/ PS elements and research question and search terms worksheet.    Basic statement of PICO/ PS elements with some elements incorrect or not present. Limited understanding of search development process.    Clear statement of PICO/ PS elements showing satisfactory understanding of search development process.    Clear and appropriate statement of PICO/ PS elements demonstrating more than satisfactory understanding of search development process.    Clear and appropriate statement of PICO/ PS elements to a superior level, demonstrating superior understanding of search development process.
Applies a systematic search of the literature (5 marks)    Unsatisfactory    Pass    Credit    Distinction    High Distinction
•    Transfers PICO/ PS terms into the systematic search plan with terms grouped in a logical order (1 mark)
•    Appropriately combines the search using ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ Boolean operators (2 marks).
•    Accurately transfers search to the Medline database according the planned search strategy (1 mark).
•    Provides a legible screenshot/screengrab as evidence of the search in Medline/ Scopus or CINAHL(1 mark).    Application of search strategy inaccurate and screenshot not present.    Basic application of search elements with some elements incorrect or not present. Demonstrates limited understanding of search strategy process. Screen shot present.    Clear application of search elements demonstrating satisfactory understanding of process. Screen shot present.    Clear and appropriate application of search elements demonstrating more than satisfactory understanding of search strategy process. Screen shot present.    Clear and appropriate application of search elements to a superior level, demonstrating superior understanding of search strategy process. Screenshot present.
Overall Grade    Unsatisfactory    Pass    Credit    Distinction    High Distinction
Work showing an unsatisfactory achievement on the overall objectives of the assessment criteria  (0-4.9)    Work showing a satisfactory achievement on the overall objectives of the subject assessment criteria (5-6.4)    Work of good quality on the overall objectives of the assessment criteria (6.5-7.4)    Work of superior quality on the overall objectives of the assessment criteria (7.5-8.4)    Work of outstanding quality on all objectives of the assessment criteria. (8.5-10)