Research Frameworks

Research question frameworks help structure and focus a research topic by breaking it into key components. They use acronyms like PICO, PEO, SPICE, and SPIDER to guide researchers in identifying essential elements such as the population, intervention or issue, outcomes, and context. These tools make it easier to create clear, answerable questions and ensure the research stays focused and relevant.

Here’s what each of the research question frameworks stands for:

PICO (commonly used in clinical or health research):

• P – Population or Problem
  
  

• I – Intervention
  
  

• C – Comparison (optional)
  
  

• O – Outcome
  
  

PEO (used for qualitative research, especially in health and social sciences):

• P – Population
  
  

• E – Exposure (or experience)
  
  

• O – Outcome
  
  

SPICE (good for evaluating services, interventions, or experiences):

• S – Setting
  
  

• P – Perspective (or population)
  
  

• I – Intervention
  
  

• C – Comparison
  
  

• E – Evaluation
  
  

SPIDER (designed for qualitative and mixed-methods research):

• S – Sample

• PI – Phenomenon of Interest

• D – Design

• E – Evaluation

• R – Research type

Here's a social sciences example using each framework, focused on the topic of mental health support for college students:

PICO (used in studies comparing interventions):
How does peer mentoring (I) compare to traditional counseling (C) in improving mental health outcomes (O) among college students (P)?

PEO (used in qualitative studies of experiences):
What are the experiences (E) of college students (P) who have used campus mental health services (O)?

SPICE (useful for evaluating programs or policies):
In a university setting (S), how do students (P) perceive on-campus mental health workshops (I) compared to no intervention (C) in terms of stress reduction (E)?

SPIDER (used for qualitative or mixed methods):

• S – College students

• PI – Experiences with mental health services

• D – Semi-structured interviews

• E – Perceived effectiveness

• R – Qualitative What are college students’ views on the effectiveness of campus mental health services, as explored through interviews?