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Dissertation Support

Resources to help you plan and develop your dissertation or research project

Why use PICO?

PICO is a widely used tool for ensuring quantitative research questions are cohesive and manageable.  PICO is especially helpful when formulating questions to enhance evidence based practice.

P: Population, or Patient

  • Who are you trying to help?

I: Intervention

  • Which treatment, therapy or intervention applies?

C: Comparison (optional element) 

  • Which treatment, therapy or treatment comprises a direct comparison, if any?

O: Outcome

  • What are you hoping to achieve?

 

Applying PICO: an example

A topic: Working mothers expressing milk to maintain infant health

The PICO breakdown:

 

P: Population, or Patient - Working mothers

I: Intervention - Hand expression

C: Comparison - Formula feeding

O: Outcome - Healthier babies

 

A resulting question: 

Is expressing milk by hand (I) more successful than formula feeding (C) at maintaining infant health (O) once breastfeeding mothers return to work (P)?