Exposure Comparison Outcome (PICO)
Use the Population Intervention/ Exposure Comparison Outcome (PICO) framework to frame a research question relating to an important public or environmental health issue. Choose a study design from those studied in this module (cross-sectional, ecological, case-control, cohort, randomised controlled trial or cluster randomised controlled trial) that could be used to answer this question and write a draft research proposal.
You will be awarded a maximum of 3 marks for a good structure and style of your proposal (title, formatting, spelling, grammar and coherence in presentation). The headings you should include in your proposal are:
Research question.
HINT: State your research question using PICO. 4 marks
Why is this an important question for public or environmental health?
HINT: Reference relevant literature to support the importance of your research question and provide a reference list at the end of the document. The reference list is not part of the word count. 6 marks
Why is this an appropriate study design to answer your research question?
HINT: Ensure discussions here are related to the context of your study or research. 7 marks
How would you select participants for your study?
HINT: Think about how you would select and approach the participants to take part in your study. 5 marks
What are your exposure and outcome measures? How would you collect data on these measures?
HINT: The exposure could be an intervention (in an RCT). Outcome refers to the health outcome of interest. 15 marks
Discuss the strengths and limitations of your approach.
HINT: Consider issues around bias, chance and confounding and other practical issues if relevant. 10 marks
