Research skills

Published: 15/01/2021

Updated: 20/04/2021

These are my hints and tips with links to useful resources on how to critically appraise research.

My hints and tips

• Think about what you would have done differently e.g. how the data was collected (focus groups or qestionnaires etc) and the population selection criteria 
• Think about how generalisable or transferable the study population is to clinical practice populations
• Be critical but also way up the pros and cons of the paper with the results it has produced (e.g. it has good methods etc, and the results would inform my practice by ..., but it could have been improved and therefore more appropriate to my clinical population if they had ....)
• How the findings can be used to change your clinical practice

Additional tips: 

1. Write a reflection on your learning from the research (it creates extra CPD!)
2. Use books like Amit Kaura and Trisha Greenhalgh to understand statistical concepts that you are unfamiliar with

Critical Appraisal tools that I would recommend (links in resource list)

• Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP)
• PEDro scale (for assessing methodological quality)
• Joanna Briggs Institute
• How to red a paper prompt questions (in the appendix)

Resource list

How to Read a Paper by Trisha Greenhalgh https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Read-Paper-Evidence-based-Healthcare/dp/111948474X/ref=asc_df_111948474X/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310873701019&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12387772134471260057&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046165&hvtargid=pla-676902935685&psc=1&th=1&psc=1
PEDro Scale https://pedro.org.au/wp-content/uploads/PEDro_scale.pdf
Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (2020) https://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists/
Joanna Briggs Institute (2020) https://joannabriggs.org/critical-appraisal-tools

Kaura, A. (2013) Evidence-based Medicine: Reading and Writing Medical Papers. Edinburgh: Elsevier Health Sciences.