Choose a study design that can answer the question. A survey can describe respondents’ opinions; it cannot, by itself, establish what caused an outcome. Writing a PICOT question helps define what a comparison would need to measure.
Find and appraise evidence
Frame a question, find relevant research and examine how reviews or guidelines reached their conclusions.
- Evidence-Based Nursing Practice · Writing a PICOT Question
- Finding Nursing Research · Systematic Reviews for Nurses
- Scoping Reviews for Nurses · Evidence Synthesis for Nursing Practice
- Clinical Practice Guidelines and Evidence · Predatory Journals and Nursing Research
Recognize the design
Identify what was compared, how participants were selected and which measurements were made.
- Randomized Controlled Trials · Cohort Studies in Nursing Research
- Case-Control Studies · Cross-Sectional Nursing Surveys
- Qualitative Nursing Research · Mixed Methods Research
- Sampling and Representativeness
Interpret a result
Separate association from cause; check uncertainty, risk, bias and applicability to another setting.
- Association and Causation in Nursing Research · Confounding in Health Research
- Absolute and Relative Risk · Confidence Intervals for Nurses
- Statistical and Clinical Significance · Bias in Nursing Research
- Research Generalizability
Use evidence responsibly
Determine whether a project needs review and how a finding might be tested in practice.
- Research Ethics and Institutional Review Boards · Quality Improvement Versus Research
- Implementing Evidence in Nursing Practice
Sources
- Cochrane Handbook, Chapter 3: Defining the criteria for including studies (accessed 2026-11-11).
- Cochrane Handbook, Chapter 15: Interpreting results and drawing conclusions (accessed 2026-11-11).
- HHS Office for Human Research Protections: Quality Improvement Activities FAQs (accessed 2026-11-11).