Type of question


Systematic Reviews can answer different types of research questions.

Your question may fall into one of the following common categories:

Effectiveness of Intervention

A question about the treatment of an illness, condition or disability.

Etiology/Risk

A question about the causes or origins of a disease.

Diagnosis

A question about the process for determining that someone has a particular disease or injury.

Prognosis/Predictions

A question that explores what happens to patients over the course of a disease or health condition.

Methodological

A question that examines published reports to understand how research is conducted and reported.

Qualitative

A question that does not assess effectiveness. A question that asks “how” or “why”.

For more information on the types of questions that systematic reviews can answer, see the Questions Module of our Prepare Your Topic course.