Evaluating Research: Research Designs in Evidence-Based Medicine/Evidence-Based Practice

Once you have located some research reports that can help answer your practice question, Step 3 in the evidence-based medicine (EBM) and evidence-based practice (EBP) decision-making model is to appraise the quality and relevance of this research. An initial inspection of materials should help differentiate those that are relevant for your purposes from those that are not. Relevance may often be determined by examining the research question that each study addresses. Studies should have clear and relevant research questions, fitting your practice needs. That is, the topics should fit your clinical question, and the sample should be similar in age and other background criteria. Once these ‘apparently relevant’ studies are identified, the appraisal shifts to issues of research methodology. Even studies that appear be quite relevant initially may later on prove to have important limitations as the details of their methods are explored.